The High Point women's soccer team suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Radford in their opening round match of the 2005 Big South Conference Championship tournament on Thursday at Winthrop University.

 

The Panthers, who end the year with a 10-7-1 record, got off to a slow start in the postseason event and were just unable to make a late rally despite having several scoring opportunities in the waning minutes of play.

 

"Obviously it is disappointing to see our season end," said HPU first-year head coach Michelle Rayner. "This team has overcome a lot of obstacles and achieved some program firsts this year, and those are things we should be proud of.  With that said, we still have to be able to play better and more consistently than we showed today.  I give Radford a great deal of credit for playing hard and making plays when they got chances.  Hopefully, my young team will learn something from this experience and use it to build on for next year."

 

Six players recorded shot attempts for High Point, including All-Conference members Traci Andersen, Beckie Lesh and Alex Torriero.  Panther goalie Erica Brockmyer tallied three saves in the loss.

 

Radford's Kara Ramer and McKenzie Vergara each scored a goal for the Highlanders in the win. Ramer's score came at the 31:12 mark giving RU a 1-0 lead. Vergara added the insurance goal late in the second half at 86:44, with assistance from Megan Horan.  Radford goalkeeper Lauren Bergsten made four saves in the shutout win. An aggressive Highlander squad out-shot the Panthers 13-6 including a 9-3 edge in the opening frame.

 

Radford (7-12-0) advances to face No. 3 seed Liberty Friday at 5:00pm in the semifinals. The Lady Flames reached the semis with a 4-1 victory over Birmingham-Southern in Thursday's opening match.