By Andrew Marchetti
For the Radford women’s soccer team, Sunday night was less about what was left on the scoreboard and more about what the Highlanders can move forward with.
Radford and ETSU battled to a 1-1 draw at Tom Lillard Field at Cupp Stadium, giving the Highlanders a hard earned result in their final tune up before Big South Conference play.
The draw moves Radford to 2-5-1 on the season, bringing an end to a difficult stretch of nonconference competition that has tested the Highlanders in nearly every way. More importantly, it gives a young Radford team something to build on heading into the part of the season that matters most.
For a program coming off a Big South regular season championship, the record may not resemble that of a reigning conference champion, but the Highlanders have shown enough to suggest that the record does not tell the entire story. The Highlanders schedule was intentionally ambitious.
They have been tested and head coach Ben Sohrabi knew that the early portion of the season would be about preparing the team for the pressure of Big South play, rather than simply piling up wins.
The Highlanders opened the season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Concord and followed it with a 7-2 offensive explosion against Emory & Henry. Sandwiched around those wins, however, were difficult contests against Charlotte, Tennessee Tech, UNC Greensboro, Navy and Richmond that had instead led them to more early season woes than hype.
Who to watch out for?
If there is one reason for Radford fans to be optimistic, it is the number of different players capable of making something happen in the attack.
Through the first seven games, junior Ciaira Anderson and sophomore forward Brooke Pearson had each scored three goals, while Haley Blake has added two. Ava Kertgate contributed a goal and three assists, while Lilly Clayton had three assists of her own. If the early season losses have shown anything about the team in place, it’s that the pieces are there. The challenge is making them work together for 90 minutes.
While the offense has provided plenty of reasons for optimism, goalkeeper Lexi Radvanyi has also been an important part of Radford’s early season story. Radvanyi has been called upon to make difficult saves throughout the nonconference schedule and has helped keep the Highlanders within striking distance in several close matches.
As conference play begins, her ability to organize the defense and make big saves could become just as important as Radford’s ability to score.
If the Highlanders can turn the lessons of the opening eight games into consistent performances over the next several weeks, the team that emerges in October could look very different from the one that took the field in August. One big note still remains that the championship chase is still very much alive and the real season starts now.
A Quick Look Ahead
Radford opens Big South play Saturday on the road against USC Upstate before returning home to face Winthrop on Sept. 26 and UNC Asheville on Sept. 30. With conference play finally here, the Highlanders have a chance to turn the page on the nonconference schedule and now, with a championship to defend and a conference full of teams looking to knock them off, the Highlanders have their chance to show that their record is not a reflection of what this team can become.
There is still a lot of soccer left to play in Radford and the part that matters most starts now so make your way out to Tom Lillard Field at Cupp Stadium and cheer on our Highlanders.
