Spartanburg, S.C.- A goal in the 9th minute was all Wofford men's soccer needed to claim their first win of the season, and the first series win over the Radford Highlanders.

Freshman midfielder Fabian Menendez scored his first collegiate goal in the ninth minute off a pass from sophomore Jakob Andersson that went between the legs of fellow sophomore Nikolai Rojel, who immediately turned to box out the Radford defense to give Menendez his cleanest look and the freshman delivered the ball into the back of the net. The assist gave Andersson his second of the season and tied him with junior Hugo Moldin for the team lead.

From there the match was about not conceding an equalizer and the defense was up to the task. Radford was held to only seven shots in the match and none of them forced senior goalkeeper Cameron Victor to make a save- his first shutout since October 22, 2022, at VMI and his first game without a save since September 10, 2022, against Georgia State.

"It was nice to push the stone over the mountain so to speak. Not the best circumstances playing at 1 o'clock playing the heat and stuff like that, but I felt the guys were gritty when they needed to be and I thought they were classy when they needed to be. So, just really proud of the effort and the determination to keep a clean sheet," said Head Coach Joel Tyson on his team picking up their first win of the season.

The lack of Highlander attempts was partly due to the fact that Wofford held possession for 57% of the game and 55% of Wofford's possession was on the Radford half of the field. The four corner opportunities the Highlanders did have were harmlessly snuffed out by the Terrier defense.

Freshmen Jack Rodelli and Nick Dyer both made their collegiate debuts today with Rodelli playing 13 minutes in relief and Dyer getting three minutes in on defense. Senior Erik Nikolaisen contributed a season high 28 minutes for the Terriers.

It's a short turnaround for the Terriers who are in action next on Tuesday, September 19, at home against Queens (NC) before hitting the road on Saturday, September 23, to face the Longwood Lancers. Wofford defeated Queens last season 4-3 in the first matchup between the two schools since 1994. Kickoff for that match is slated for 7 PM on ESPN+.