BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Coming off a midweek victory at nationally-ranked North Carolina State, Campbell returns to action Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. kick-off at Radford in the Big South Conference opener for both teams.
Campbell's 4-1-1 start to the season is the program's best since the 1995 club opened that campaign with the same mark. Radford (2-2-2) is winless in its last 3 outings (0-2-1), all of which have been overtime contests.
LAST TIME OUT: CAMPBELL (4-1-1) defeated 17th-ranked North Carolina State 2-0 on Tuesday behind goals from Bryce Miller and Ricki Gaez, plus 7 saves from keeper Ethan Hall. Hall saved a 63rd minute penalty kick, then Mitchell Cardenas set up Miller (76th) and Gaez (82nd) to give the Camels their second-straight win over the Wolfpack… RADFORD (2-2-2) suffered a 1-0 loss on Sunday against Marshall when the Highlanders surrendered a 98th minute goal to Jack Hopkins. The outing was Radford's fourth extra time contest in six games this year.
THE SERIES: Campbell leads the all-time series with the Highlanders 12-8-0, but Radford scored a 2-1 victory in 2011 at Buies Creek. Last year's contest was the first meeting between the teams since Oct. 17, 2000... Campbell defeated Radford 3-1 in the 1985 Big South Championship game, and also upset the top-seeded Highlanders 1-0 in the '91 semis en route to the title.
LAST MEETING: Radford used a 49th minute own goal and Bernardo Ulmo's 65th minute free kick to defeat the Camels 2-1 on Sept. 28, 2011 at Buies Creek. Jhuvon Francis put the Camels ahead in the 29th minute with his first collegiate goal.
SOUTH ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS (Sept. 18, 2012): 1. Maryland (5-0-1), 2. Old Dominion (5-0), 3. George Mason (6-0), 4. Coastal Carolina (4-2-1), 5. High Point (6-0), T6. James Madison (3-2-1), T6. Virginia (3-2-1), 8. Northeastern (4-1), 9. Hofstra (4-1-1), 10. Boston College (2-2-1), ARV. Campbell (3-1-1).
CARDENAS CLIMBS SCHOOL CHARTS: On Tuesday at NC State, senior MF Mitchell Cardenas moved into a tie with Peter Barany (26 goals, 5 assists from 1997-2000) for 22nd place on the school's all-time scoring list with 57 points on 16 goals and 25 assists...Next on the charts in 21st place is John Reed, who tallied 61 points on 22 goals and 17 assists from 1981-84... Cardenas is only 2 assists shy of jumping into the program's all-time top-10 in assists... He stands 6th among Big South scoring leaders with 9 points (2G, 5A) and is 2nd in assists... Cardenas has had at least one point in 5 of CU's 6 matches this year.
CAMEL NOTES: Senior D Ben Iiames (57 matches) and junior D Aleksi Tossavainen (45) have extended their consecutive starts strings through the first 5 matches... Junior GK Ethan Hall was named Big South Conference defensive player of the week Aug. 28. He carries a 0.80 goal-against average (3rd in the Big South) and league-leading .848 save percentage into Saturday's game... Sophomore F Ricki Gaez leads the team with 4 goals scored on 16 shots this season. A year ago, Gaez scored once on 45 shots in 18 matches... From his central defender role, junior Travis Golden helped limit Loyola to only 2 shots on goal in Campbell's 2-0 victory over the Greyhounds. Golden has played all 560 minutes for CU this year, a mark matched by Cardenas, Tossavainen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Hall… In addition to NC State, the Camels face two other ACC schools this year. Campbell hosts Virginia Tech (Oct. 2) and travels to North Carolina (Oct. 23).
CAMELS VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS: The Camels stand 1-0-1 vs. nationally-ranked teams this year, including a 1-1 draw at then No.-16 SMU on Aug. 24 and Tuesday's 2-0 win at No.-17 NC State… Since the start of the 2005 campaign, Campbell owns a 5-12-2 mark against nationally-ranked foes… Three more teams on the 2012 CU schedule are ranked in one of this week's national polls – Coastal Carolina (Oct. 10), High Point (Oct. 17) and North Carolina (Oct. 23).
HEAD COACH STEVE ARMAS (Maryland, '03) is in his third year in charge of the Camel program and has guided his teams to a 19-19-7 overall record, 9-9-0 in league regular season play. Under Armas' direction, the Camels are 2-1-1 vs. Atlantic Coast Conference members and 1-5-2 vs. nationally-ranked teams.
CAMPBELL MEN'S SOCCER CELEBRATES GOLDEN SEASON: Campbell University celebrates its 50th season of men's soccer varsity competition this fall. Festivities feature a gathering of men's soccer alumni during Homecoming weekend (Oct. 19-20) on campus. All-Decade Teams will be named for the 1960s, '70s, '80s, '90s and 2000s and released periodically throughout the campaign. On Fri., Oct. 19, a men's soccer golf outing will be held at Keith Hills Country Club to kick off the Homecoming weekend. An Alumni-v-Alumni game is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Sat., Oct. 20, followed by a luncheon before the 3:30 p.m. varsity game vs. Presbyterian.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Since the start of the 2005 campaign, Campbell owns a 40-19-2 (.672) record at the Eakes Athletic Complex -- including 3 wins over nationally-ranked teams at the site. CU finished 4-3-1 at home in 2011, and has won its last 6 games on friendly turf (2-0 this year).
NEXT: Following Saturday's match, the Camels continue a four-match road stretch next Wednesday (Sept. 26) at the Big South's newest member Longwood.
