ELON, N.C. -- Playing a man down for nearly 55 minutes, the Elon Phoenix was unable to hold off the Radford Highlanders in the season-opening men's soccer match on Wednesday afternoon from Rudd Field. The Highlanders claimed the 3-0 victory in front of 216 fans to move to 1-0-0 on the year while Elon fell to 0-1-0.

Radford took the early 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Patrick Colas beat Elon keeper Taylor Saxe one-on-one off a pass threaded up the middle from Armando Romero. The teams battled without a goal being scored for the rest of the first half.

Elon went a man down when Alexander Barake received a red card at the 35:28 mark and had to play the rest of the contest with only 10 players. The effects of having to play short began to show in the 83rd minute when Romain Maudire was able to corral a loose ball in the box and find the back of the net.

Radford added its final tally when Tyler Leveski and Fernando Ramos got a two-on-one with Saxe and Leveski scored at 86:15.

Saxe recorded five saves for the Phoenix while going the distance in net. Omar Zinoveev played all 90 minutes and tallied three saves to earn the shutout for the Highlanders.

Radford outshot the Phoenix by a 16-5 margin, while corner kicks were nearly even with Elon holding a slim 6-5 advantage.

Elon will travel to UNC Asheville on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tilt. Radford will return home to host Charlotte at 7:00 p.m. that same day.

Game Box Score

-- ELON --