FARMVILLE, Va. – Radford forward and Big South Preseason Co-Attacking Player of the Year Kieran Roberts scored a pair of second-half goals, including the game winner in the 84th minute, to help the Highlanders escape the upset-minded Longwood men's soccer team 4-2 Saturday night at the Longwood Athletics Complex.

Roberts' pair of goals matched that of Longwood redshirt-junior Willy Miezan, who put the Lancers on his shoulders and brought Longwood back from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of goals that were separated by 16 minutes.

"We needed to do a better job in a few departments tonight to manage a strong Radford outfit," said Longwood head coach Jon Atkinson. "We started brightly but lost our way and needed to do a better job of controlling the game."

However, 31 seconds after Miezan scored his second of the night to bring Longwood even with a rocket from the top of the box into the top corner of the goal, Roberts scored his second of the night and the eventual game winner off a rebound on a scramble in the box area.

"That was the momentum Radford needed and they're a dangerous unit with that much time and space," Atkinson said. "We showed a lot of character to climb back to 2-2 and setup a great finish. However, we contrived to hurt ourselves immediately."

The loss is the first conference loss for a Lancer (3-6-0, 1-1-0 Big South) team that was seeking to upset the Big South preseason runner-up Highlanders (2-5-0, 1-1-0 Big South) in a rematch of the 2016 Big South Championship game.

After missing the last two seasons with two separate ACL injuries, Miezan has scored three goals in his last three games, as he's returned to form that saw him 13 goals in his freshman season to rank among the top 10 in the NCAA en route to All-Big South honors.

After a scoreless opening half, the Highlanders scored two goals in the opening 10:10 of the second half with Amadou Diop scoring a highlight-reel goal where he ripped a right-footed shot into the upper left corner of the goal after a feed from Dondre' Robinson.

After Roberts increased the lead off a deflection on a corner kick, before Miezan brought the Lancers back with a pair of his own.

Roberts scored his second of the night off a rebound in front before Radford added an insurance goal less than two minutes later.

Miguel Bayma got his third straight start in goal for the Lancers, making five saves on 14 shots before Jacob Reimers came on and allowed two goals in nine shots.

Sam Farrell earned his second straight start for the Highlanders, making one save on eight shots faced to earn the win.

"There is work to do for sure and doing it behind the eight-ball will test our character and resolve," Atkinson said. "I'm sure we'll prepare them well for Liberty."

Longwood will have two days to regroup before welcoming Commonwealth rival Liberty to the Athletics Complex Tuesday, Oct. 2. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

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