Senior Mike Goldman scored the game-winning goal to launch the GW men’s soccer team over host Radford University 3-1 Sunday, bringing his team over .500 for the first time this season. The Colonials trailed for more than 80 minutes but scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to take the win.
The Colonials (4-3) began their scoring rush when senior midfielder Ricarrdo Forno scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at one apiece in the 82nd minute. Freshmen midfielders Steve Brown and Frank Ambrosio set up to Forno slip a shot past Highlander goalkeeper Mac Smith.
Less than two minutes later Forno set up a shot for Goldman to put the Colonials ahead 2-1. The shot was Goldman’s first of the season, though he leads the team with five assists. Goldman’s goal was all the Colonials would need to clinch the win, as goalkeeper Eric Lund stopped the rest of Radford’s shots.
Lund saved six goals in his third start of the season behind freshman standout Derek Biss, who proved himself with an impressive showing at Duke University and started the next four games.
Senior forward Matt Osborne padded the Colonials lead, notching his team-leading fifth goal of the season with just over two minutes remaining. Goldman added to his assist total, setting up Osborne for the score. Junior forward Fabio Andrade also assisted on the play, bringing his season total to two.
The game’s end was surprising considering Radford dominated play for the majority of the game. Radford outshot the Colonials 14-10 and held the Colonials scoreless for the first 80 minutes.
The game stood scoreless for the first half but the Highlanders took a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Forward Andres Hernandez notched his second goal of the season five minutes into the half at the 50:14 mark, putting a back heel feed from teammate Jon Fosu in the bottom left corner of the goal past Lund’s reach.
The Colonials look to stay on the winning track on Wednesday, when they travel to Maryland to face Towson University at 3 p.m. in their last game before conference play begins. GW begins Atlantic 10 competition at Saint Bonaventure Friday, Oct. 4 before heading to Duquesne that Sunday. They will return home from their five-game road stretch Oct. 11 for a conference match against Dayton.
