Early Red Card Dooms Women’s Soccer in Loss to Navy

Thursday, September 3

Radford, Va.

7:00 PM

Radford University

2-4-0, 0-0-0

Navy

5-2-1, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Navy	1	4	5
Radford	0	0	0

Photo by: Rob Simmons

Early Red Card Dooms Women’s Soccer in Loss to Navy

9/3/2026 10:03:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford Highlanders women's soccer team played a man down for 87 minutes on Thursday night and fell to Navy, 5-0, at Cupp Stadium.

KEY STATS

Senior defender Caitlyn Nottingham was sent off after denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the third minute.
The Highlanders held the Midshipmen to just one goal in the first half, despite playing a man down.
Brooke Pearson led Radford with two shots, including one that nearly caught the Navy goalkeeper sleeping in the first half.
The 5-0 loss is Radford's worst defeat since Aug. 18, 2024 at West Virginia (also 5-0).

PLAY BY PLAY
An early attack by Navy, with a breakaway attempt by Kayana Adlam as she sprinted past Nottingham who appeared to grab her to slow her down, was initially a play on by the officials. Navy challenged the no-call, and after video review, the official determined Nottingham prevented an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, giving the defender a red card just 2:43 into the match. Though Adlam missed everything on the free kick from just outside the box, it was a devastating blow for a Highlander team that needed everything to go right in order to potentially pull off an upset.

Though playing with one less defender, Radford kept the chances at a minimum for the first 20 minutes. Lexi Radvanyi made her first save in the 18th minute, and the Highlanders dodged some Navy attacks shortly after. The Highlanders' best opportunity at scoring came in the 23^rd minute. The Midshipmen goalkeeper ran way out of the box to attempt and clear the ball, but her kick found Pearson in stride. The junior's attempt from long range went just left of the post, which would've been a shocking short-handed goal from at least 35 yards out.

With 16 minutes left in the first half, Navy took advantage of a Radford turnover in the box, and Jessica Black scored from close range to put the Midshipmen ahead. The Highlanders fended off several corner kicks in the closing minutes to keep the deficit at one heading into the locker room.

Navy came out ready to put things away in the second half. The Midshipmen scored off a corner kick to make it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. They added a third goal from a rebound on a free kick with 30 minutes left, then scored a couple more after the game was put away, eventually settling for a 5-0 win.

SOHRABI QUOTABLE
"I did not see the play from the coaching area," said Head Coach Ben Sohrabi on the Nottingham red card. "The official was pretty confident it was a red card, and that's just a tough way to start the game. After that, it's tough because, the field is the same size as the men, and it's a lot of room to cover. I thought our ladies did really, really well by keeping a good attitude. We had some good possessions. We defended hard. Late in the second half, we just ran out of steam. I'm proud of our team for their effort tonight."

UP NEXT
The Highlanders get a chance to put the loss behind them on Sunday, when they play host to in-state foe Richmond. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Cupp Stadium on ESPN+.

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