Radford Eliminated From Big South Women's Soccer Championship

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Charleston Southern outscored Radford, 3-0, in a shootout after two overtime periods to defeat Radford in a first-round matchup of the 2004 Big South Conference Women's Soccer Championships at Blackbaud Stadium on Thursday night. CSU (8-9-3) advances to the Semifinals against No. 2 seed Birmingham-Southern on Friday night at 7:30pm.

Charleston Southern won the match despite being out-shot 26-7 in the game, including a 14-2 advantage in the second half when Radford (10-6-3) overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit to force overtime. The two teams combined for 39 fouls, 25 whistled against Charleston Southern.

Charleston Southern wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first half when freshman Natalie Jackson scored on a pass from Katie Crona with just 2:07 gone in the match for a 1-0 lead. The Lady Bucs made it 2-0 at the 25:45 mark when Sarah Hook lofted a high shot over the head of Radford keeper Tara Oleartchick into the back left corner.

Radford opened the second-half in clear control offensively, putting pressure on the CSU defense from the outset. That pressure paid off 16 minutes into the half when Nikki Porter scored off a rebound of her first shot to bring Radford to within a goal at 2-1. The Highlanders tied the score at 77:09 when Jonita Hooker headed a free kick from Rachel Heberer past CSU keeper Miki Wilson.

Porter's goal, the 41st of her career pushed her into sole position of second place on RU's all-time goal socring list. She moved one ahead of Missy Gaitka. Sue Williams holds the career record with 57. The goal also moved her past Gaitka for second place in career points with 104.

Radford mounted two serious scoring threats in the first overtime but Wilson (12 saves) responded with key saves. CSU’s main threat came in the second overtime when Katie Crona’s header off a cross by Jackson was picked off by Oleartchick.

In the shootout, CSU opened with a goal by Crona and Radford’s Sarah Rutherford sailed her attempt high over the net. Sarah Hook put CSU up 3-0 and Radford’s Lisa Channon missed her attempt high as well.

CSU’s Natalie Jackson missed her attempt and Radford’s Debbie Leach missed wide left, setting up CSU’s chance to clinch the victory. Senior Elizabeth Uczekaj drilled her attempt into the right corner, setting off a wild celebration for the Buccaneers.

The victory marked CSU’s second consecutive first-round upset. Last season, CSU upset the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Liberty, in a shootout. CSU is 3-0 all-time in Big South Conference tournament shootouts.

QUOTES

CSU COACH ERIC TERRILL

“Radford pretty much dominated the entire second-half and somehow our girls found a way to hang in there under the pressure. We were forced to change what we were doing in the second-half because of an injury but we survived. I am really proud of the effort.”

“We practiced three days on penalty kicks and tonight it seemed to pay off for us. We had a plan and we felt confident. I think our girls felt they had survived the battle and were ready to win the war.”

RADFORD COACH BEN SOHRABI

“Credit CSU for the way they battled and scrapped and played with a lot of heart. We controlled the second-half and had some great opportunities to win it. We just came up a little short.”

“There is no strategy in penalty kicks. You send up your best five and hope for the best. Unfortunately we didn’t strike the ball real well and they did. It’s a tough loss for sure.”

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