CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – The Radford women's soccer team fell to #5 Virginia Sunday night 5-0 despite a strong defensive effort against a relentless offensive attack.
The Highlanders had their hands full in Sunday's match having to travel to the fifth-ranked Hoos who were coming off an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal run just one season ago. It was a rare meeting between the two squads as they hadn't met since the 2019 NCAA Tournament First Round.
Virginia set the tone early in the match drawing a foul inside the box that led to a penalty kick. Virginia converted the kick to lead 1-0 and would hold that lead the rest of the way. Virginia would add two more goals before the end of the half in the 12th and 24th minutes. Despite facing 12 shots and Virginia maintaining most of the possession, Radford would enter the second half trailing just 3-0.
The defensive effort by the Highlanders was on full display on a slick surface after that 24th minute goal. The defensive back line including
Jillian Silverstone,
Elyse Beaudry,
Helena Willson and
Kayla Edwards did a great job extinguishing multiple Virginia threats.
Jordan Phillips collected three saves in the match, allowing her first regular season goal since October 12th, 2022. The goal broke a streak of four straight shutouts by the junior, including two shutouts in the postseason over that stretch.
Virginia would add to its lead in the closing minutes of the match with goals in the 69th and 76th minutes. Freshman
Lexi Radvanyi would enter the match for the final 17 minutes and looked solid picking up the first two saves of her collegiate career.
"The first half we made some mistakes defensively and they punished us on those but I thought we had some good possessions even with their press," commented head coach
Ben Sohrabi. "Second half our legs were tired but we defended with a lot of heart. There are some good lessons in this game and we will use it to make us stronger."
Radford's focus now moves to their next road match this Wednesday, August 23rd against Campbell. The Highlanders and Camels will meet as nonconference foes with a kick slated for 7:00 p.m. on Flo FC.
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