Radford Women’s Soccer Secures Regular Season Conference Title

By: Brandon Whitaker

The Radford Highlanders shut out Charleston Southern on Saturday 2-0 to secure their seventh Big South regular season title. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and the perfect environment for senior day at Cupp Stadium. Before they hit the pitch, Ashley Loundermon, Amani Green, Lilly Short, Paige Olson and Jillian Silverstone were celebrated for their contributions to the program. In the 25th minute following a foul by the Buccaneers, Silverstone launched a perfect pass to the top of the box and Short was able to leap above the goalkeeper and knock in a powerful header for her eighth goal of the season. The defensive intensity from all 11 Highlanders was stout all day long, only allowing one shot in the first half and four in total. Following the halftime break it was Olson’s turn to get in the scoring column. In minute 59 Olson was fouled dashing down the right wing. She rifled her penalty kick attempt to the bottom right side of the goal and it was deflected away but Olson stayed aggressive and scored off the ricochet while CSU’s goalkeeper was still on the grass. 

Head Coach Ben Sohrabi shared his thoughts on the game and his seniors postgame,

“It’s very difficult to win a regular season conference championship. It’s a long haul, and I’m just so proud of what these girls have done this season, proud of what they did today, but also proud of what they did all season…I have a lot of respect for these seniors. I love them as players, they’re great students, but they’re great people, and they have given this program so much success and they’ve had so much dedication and commitment to everything that we do, I’m looking forward to what they do in the tournament.”

The last time the Highlanders shut out Charleston Southern on senior day was in 2022 when the seniors on this current roster were freshmen. That team ultimately made its way to the NCAA women’s soccer tournament. Senior Lilly Short was asked if she thinks history will repeat itself,

“I would like it to. I think that we have a really good team this year and we have a lot of fight and will to win, just like we had in the previous year. I think that if we show up to play like we have been, we have a really good chance to make that happen.”

The Highlanders will be taking on #4 High Point on November 6th at 4:00 PM.