Puerto Rico Sol FC is a professional soccer club based in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and was founded in 2016. The club competes in a league called Liga Puerto Rico and is notable for fans of the Radford Highlanders, and particularly Radford Women's Soccer, because of one major distinction: it is the home of not one, but two Highlander legends.

Take just a glance at the Radford Women's Soccer record book and it is obvious that Jasmine Casarez and Nelia Perez were absolute stars in Highlander uniforms. The duo not only collected numerous Big South honors, but placed their names all over the program top 10 lists. On the field together in 2018, Casarez and Perez paired up on nine goals that were assisted by the other, and totaled 12 in the three years they spent together at Radford.

The most notable shining moment for Casarez and Perez came in 2018 when Radford won the first of two straight Big South Tournament Championships for which Casarez earned Tournament MVP honors in addition to her Attacking Player of the Year award. In addition to Casarez's honors, Perez was named to the All-Tournament team in that 2018 championship run.

After Casarez graduated in 2019, the duo was split up for a while. Casarez pursued her professional career, while Perez went on to have a splendid senior season, leading the Highlanders in points, taking home First-Team All-Big South honors, and earning her own Big South Tournament MVP nod as Radford won that second-consecutive title.

While Perez continued to make her mark on the field for the Highlanders, in October 2019, Casarez announced that she had signed with the Puerto Rico Sol FC. It was her relationship with her coaches in Puerto Rico that helped Perez eventually wind up with the club. That's because in addition to her decorated career in Radford, Nelia Perez competes for the Puerto Rican senior women's national team.

It was her competition with the national team, along with some advocacy from Casarez, that allowed the Puerto Rico Sol brass to see Perez play with their own eyes and in September 2021, Perez announced that she had signed with the club. Since then, the pair of Highlanders find themselves regularly in the starting 11 for the club, continuing their rich history of on-field success.

For Perez and Casarez, though, it's not all just about what they have done and continue to do on the field – not to mention how beautiful Puerto Rico is. Those things are nice, sure, as Casarez lists the 2018 Big South title as her favorite memory in Radford red, but the connection the two players share on the field extends off the field, and that's what it is really all about.

When Jasmine Casarez spoke of that 2018 championship, it was clear to see the love she holds for her teammates and that being able to win that title is a cherished memory, but doing it with a group of people who truly cared about each other made it that much better.

Said Casarez, "It was so great… [Nelia] got that beautiful goal – it was just so cool to experience something like that, being able to graduate with a ring."

Now Casarez and Perez get to continue playing together and represent Radford at a high level. And ultimately, it was the belief instilled in them by Radford head coach Ben Sohrabi that allowed them to see the possibility of this moment.

"Without Coach Sohrabi and our teammates, we wouldn't be here right now," said Perez, continuing. "He encouraged us and told us all 'you have the ability to play pro.'"

Casarez echoed the sentiment, exuding an appreciation for her alma mater, saying, "I feel really grateful to have played at Radford and to represent Radford in Puerto Rico… That's something I'm really grateful for."

Casarez says that the reaction when she says that she went to Radford is often that of surprise, but she and Nelia Perez wear their love for their alma mater on their sleeves. It may be surprising to some to have two players from a school the size of Radford on one professional team, but it probably shouldn't be – Radford women's soccer has a strong history of success under coach Sohrabi and a history that Casarez and Perez undoubtedly put their mark on.