Johnson’s Goal Not Enough as Highlanders Fall in Opener

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – The Radford women's soccer program fell 2-1 in their season opener at Charlotte Sunday night despite a strong effort to overcome an early hole.

KEY STATS

Lexi Radvanyi made four saves in her season debut, all four coming in the opening half.
Johnson's goal marked the first of the season for Radford and the fifth in her career. Four of her five career goals have come on the road.
Lilly Short and freshman Abby Walsh led Radford in the shots department with three apiece.
Radford outshot Charlotte 14-11, but only five of those shots came on goal. Radford also outdrew their opponent in corners 6-5.

PLAY BY PLAY
A pair of early defensive miscues proved costly for the Highlanders in the match as the host 49ers scored both of their goals in the opening 10 minutes. The Highlanders quickly regrouped and joined in on the scoring frenzy to make it three goals in the opening 15 minutes.

Thanks to a pair of long passes that flipped the field, Johnson sped past a pair of Charlotte defenders and was able to sneak her shot past the goalie into the back right corner of the net to cut the deficit in half.

The Highlanders would spend the next 75 minutes of the match looking for the equalizer. Momentum swung in Radford's direction after the goal, taking three of the next four shots while maintaining possession in opponent territory. The last five shots of the half would all come off Highlanders with two by Short coming inches from scoring.

Radford kept the intensity into the second half, but both defenses settled in the rest of the way. Radford would draw some corners and get some good looks in the opposing box, but nothing landed as Charlotte was able to hold on and defend their home turf 2-1.

SOHRABI QUOTABLE
"We started off a bit rough but showed a lot of resilience," commented head coach Ben Sohrabi. "I thought the second half we played well and created enough chances to draw but couldn't find that last goal. Charlotte is a good team with a lot of resources and I think this competition prepares us for future games."

UP NEXT
The Highlanders return to Tom Lillard Field at Cupp Stadium for their home opener this upcoming Thursday, August 21st against Emory & Henry. Action is set to kick off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with live stats also available at RadfordAthletics.com.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD WOMEN'S SOCCER
For all the latest on Radford women's soccer, be sure to follow the team on X (@RadfordWSOC), Instagram (@radfordwsoc), and "like" the team's official Facebook Page (Radford Women's Soccer).

#RiseAndDefend

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Players Mentioned

#0 Lexi Radvanyi: GK; 5' 8"; Junior; FC Virginia

#23 Lilly Short: M/F; 5' 7"; Senior; Sporting Delaware Soccer Club

#13 Abby Walsh: M/F; 5' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#0 Lexi Radvanyi
: 5' 8"; Junior; FC Virginia
: GK

#23 Lilly Short
: 5' 7"; Senior; Sporting Delaware Soccer Club
: M/F

#13 Abby Walsh
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: M/F

Players Mentioned

#0 Lexi Radvanyi

#23 Lilly Short

#13 Abby Walsh

Players Mentioned

#0 Lexi Radvanyi

#23 Lilly Short

#13 Abby Walsh