Radford puts men’s soccer season to an end
GIVE THEM THE “D” — Sophomore defensive midfielder Greg White and the men’s soccer team finished the season with a winning 10-7-1 overall record marked by a commitment to defense.
The Radford Highlanders cut the Flames men’s soccer team’s season short with a 2-1 victory in the Quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament.
“I felt we were prepared to win. It just (was not) our day,” Flames head coach Jeff Alder said.
The Flames ended its regular season with a home win over UNC-Asheville. This tied them in third place with Gardner-Webb.
The Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs took the third seed at home in a head to head game with Liberty, 1-0.
This set up the Nov. 11 meeting between the fourth seeded Flames and the fifth seeded Highlanders.
These teams, similar in intensity, are used to playing one another.
“Radford’s very organized, very sound defensively and extremely good on the counter-attack,” Alder said. “(We have) always had a big rivalry with them.”
The Flames battled through some rough weeks in the season but stuck to the game plan.
“(We) hang our hat on playing good defense,” Alder said. “Tournament time, I think (it is) important that your defense is tight and organized.”
While High Point entered the tournament seeded first, Alder felt there could be upsets allowing a number of the teams to win.
History shows ranking does not determine outcomes. Liberty was seeded third in the 2009 Big South Tournament and fell to the fourth seeded Winthrop Eagles in the championship game.
Entering the game on Nov. 11, the Highlanders and Flames were ready to fight it out. Both teams took 13 shots. Both goalkeepers, the Highlander’s Joey Dennis and the Flame’s Paul Gilbert, had six saves.
A little over the midway point in the first half, Liberty tried to clear the ball and the Highlander’s midfielder Luis Grande got in front of it and scored.
The Flames missed a couple of chances to tie the game up before forward Iyiola Awosika put the Highlanders up by two.
The Flames picked up the intensity on offense to try and get on the scoreboard. Forward Darren Amoo scored a goal with little time left and the Flames were unable to tie it up.
“(We) just ran out of time,” Alder said. “I felt we were prepared to win, it just (was not) our day.”
The Flames have gone through periods of lows this season, and felt they had fought through them.
“We (were not) happy in the middle of the season when we lost some games I felt we could have (tied or) won,” Alder said. “(That is) part of the maturation process.”
They felt they could win some games in this tournament, and this loss cuts their season shorter than expected.
“This will leave a bitter taste in our mouths for a long time because we felt we had a chance coming down here to win the thing,” Alder said.
With the Flames moving into the offseason, Alder is eager to get back to work. Not everyone will get another chance. Seniors Thad Taylor, Chris Osborne and Panashe Nhekairo will not be returning.
“(We are) very proud of our seniors,” Alder said. “We had a chance to see them go from being boys to being men.”
Alder said he wants the team to take ownership and work on getting better for the next season.
“For us (it is) just not good enough,” Alder said. “Our goal is to try and win a championship each year… and we fell short of our goals.”
The Flames finished the season, 10-7-1. Alder said they have won 45 games in the past five years.