RADFORD, Va. – Radford Men's Soccer couldn't find its offensive touch at Cupp Stadium on Saturday night as Liberty handed them a 3-0 defeat.
"Liberty is a quality team that we have to play our best against to beat," said Head Coach
Chris Barrett. "Tonight we made a couple of bad mistakes at the back that they capitalized on in the first half. I was more pleased with our response in the second half."
The Highlanders struggled to maintain possession early, but battled hard to keep things scoreless through the first 20 minutes. Liberty finally broke through for the opening goal in the 21
st minute when a cross into the box bounced around and landed right in the path of a Noah Holmes header.
The Flames then doubled their lead in the 33
rd minute when Jarrod McKechnie and Michael Catanzarite executed an impressive give-and-go just outside the 18-yard box.
Radford's biggest highlight of the night came in the 40
th minute when goalkeeper
Trevor Kallendorf did extremely well to deny a Liberty shot off a free kick and then make a second save on a follow-up attempt.
Radford's offensive pressure ramped up in the second half, but the squad was unable to force a save. Liberty sealed its win with a third goal in the 81
st minute.
"I thought we played with more intensity and commitment to attack over the final 45 minutes," added Coach Barrett. "We will continue to work hard in training to put a full game together at the level needed to beat good teams."
KEYS STATS
UP NEXT
Radford hits the road once again, this time to meet VMI in Lexington, Va. for a 4 p.m. game on Wednesday, Sept. 15.
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