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| Mountaineers continue uphill struggle,
shut out by Radford Highlanders, 1-0 |
Allie
Woods
Sports Beat |
Radford University
was able to keep Appalachian State University winless in the Northern
Pacific Conference with a 1-0 victory at Kidd Brewer Stadium October
9.
A dense fog remained over the stadium throughout the game and made
the visiting stands invisible at times.
This could not stop Radford University’s Erin Lenhardt from
lifting a shot over Appalachian State University senior goalkeeper
Amy Sarno. Megan Driest assisted on the goal that came at the 14:59
mark in the first half.
Appalachian could not get anything going as the Radford defense
played a great game, allowing only three shots and one penalty corner
throughout the game. Appalachian played a good defensive game behind
Sarno’s four saves and strong play on the nine Radford penalty
corners.
“Year in, year out if you look at the stats, our defense on
the penalty corner gives up the least number of goals percentage
wise,” said assistant coach Ryan Langford. “We drill them
weekly and they step up to the task every single time.”
Although the offense was unable to find the back of the net, Appalachian
did play an aggressive offensive game led by junior Nara Brookes.
One play saw Brookes come down the near sideline with the ball only
to encounter two Radford defenders. In the midst of trying to go
around them, she ended up going through the defenders by using her
body and putting both players on their backs on the ground.
“Nara Brookes is a great player,” Langford said. “You
could say that Radford is our rival. Her sister used to play for
Radford and is now an assistant coach. These things she thrives
on and played a very emotional game.”
“Our defenders were able to hit the ball hard through them
[to get the Appalachian offense going]” Langford said. “This
made their team back off and gave us more space to work with. Us
with more space equals us in a dangerous position. There was confidence
in their eyes when they got the ball, poise, control; they took
the extra second to get the proper pass.”
Appalachian has five chances left to get in the conference win column.
They travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on Southwest Missouri State
University over fall break for two games and play Davidson College
at home Oct. 23.
“Against Davidson, we lost to them previously but our girls
played a great game and I am going to blame the loss completely
on the umpires,” Langford said. “They gave two goals to
the other team. When they come here we’re looking for payback
and we’re going to get it.” |
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