BOONE, N.C. – The Appalachian State University men's soccer team dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Radford 1-0 on Wednesday evening.
"When you create five or six clear cut opportunities in the game, specifically in the first half and don't put your chances away, it tends to come back and bite you," said head coach Matt Nelson. "Credit to Radford, they worked very hard and made it very difficult on us, but at the end of the game they scored on their only real opportunity that was created from a set piece. They took it well and got the win. We have to learn from this, move on and prepare for Saturday's game."
The Mountaineers (2-4-1) were coming off of back-to-back shutouts and with a handful of excellent scoring chances looked to make it three in a row.
Donovan Japp had a couple of tremendous scoring chances in the box in the first half, but Radford's keeper, Aitor Pouseu Blanco, saved both of them. Appalachian put six shots on net out of 13 total shots – both of which outdid the Highlanders.
With the score tied at 0-0 nearly seven minutes into the first overtime period, Radford was gifted a free kick off of an App State foul just outside the 18-yard box. Fraser Colmer sent a ball to the back post that Kieran Roberts headed in for the winner.
Paul West made four saves in the match for the Mountaineers. Keegan Tanaka led in shots with four, while Japp and Alex Herbst both tallied two a piece. Mason McCarter, Alex Beranger, Stanley Broaden, Ben Steen and John Walrath each contributed a shot.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 27 when they travel to USC Upstate for a match with the Spartans. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m.
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