CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern women's soccer team makes the trip up to Radford, Va., tomorrow night as the Buccaneers take on top-seed Radford University in the first round of the 2013 Big South Soccer Championships.

The Buccaneers enter the tournament as the eight-seed after finishing the season with a 4-7 record in Big South play, with wins over Asheville, VMI, Winthrop and Gardner-Webb on their way to the postseason berth.

Radford return to the postseason as the top-seed for the third time in four years after winning the 2013 Big South women's soccer regular season title. The Highlanders posted a 10-1 record in league play this season, with their lone blemish coming on the road at the hands of Coastal Carolina.

Charleston Southern looks to bounce back from a trio of tough losses as the Buccaneers enter the postseason for the 21st consecutive time in program history, dating back to the 1993 season. CSU has struggled to put the ball in the net in their past four games, being outscored 8-2 during the stretch, but a win over Gardner-Webb on Senior Day and the recent standout play by redshirt junior goalkeeper Caitlin Cody give the Bucs hope as they look to advance to the semifinal round for the first time since the 2005 season.

The Buccaneers faced off against the Highlanders earlier this season at Blackbaud Stadium, hosting Radford back on September 28th and CSU took the early lead over the visitors as sophomore forward Chelsea Frankeny found the back of the net three minutes into the match, ending a Radford shutout streak that spanned nearly eight conference matches.

The Highlanders rallied back though in tying the match in the first half on a goal by Sydney Golden, before Kara Wade's second half goal in the 51st minute proved to be the difference maker in the 2-1 Radford victory.

Charleston Southern was outshot 26-17 in the match, with 19 Radford shots on goal against six for the Buccaneers. Freshman goalkeeper Dana McLaughlin set a career high with 17 saves in the match in her efforts to keep the Highlanders off the scoreboard, but her counterpart in goal, Che' Brown, proved to be her equal with five saves in the Radford win.

The Buccaneers face a tall task in order to move on to the Big South Championships semifinal round as Charleston Southern has struggled at Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium, home of the Highlanders' soccer program. CSU has not picked up a road win at Radford dating back to the 1995 season in head coach Eric Terrill's first year with the program as the Buccaneers topped the Highlanders 2-1 in the match. Overall, Radford leads the series, 15-6-1.

For CSU to advance in the tournament, they are going to have to rely on the offensive prowess of senior forward Toni Lashley and senior midfielder Allison Lewis, the defensive ability of junior Stephanie Hand, freshman Nikki Schoning and a host of players, as well as the goalkeeping strength of both Cody and McLaughlin.

Lashley enters the match as the team leader with eight goals on the season and has added three assists to her total. The program's leading scorer during her four years at Charleston Southern, Lashley has 33 career goals while wearing the CSU Blue and Gold, good for third all-time in the Buccaneers career record books.

Her counterpart on offense, Lewis, has continued to impress in her final season with the Buccaneers as the senior midfielder put together a six game stretch in conference play where she scored five goals and added four assists, displaying a knack for finding the open player and the back of the net during the run. She is second on the team with six goals scored on the season and is currently tied for fourth in the Big South in assists with five on the season.

Other offensive leaders for CSU include Frankeny (five goals), sophomore forward Chelsea Phillips (four goals, five assists) and freshman forward Anna Sells (three goals, two game-winners).

Defensively, Hand and Schoning have been the stalwarts for the Buccaneers backline of defense on the season with Hand leading all players in seeing action in 1,748 of the 1,751 minutes Charleston Southern has played on the pitch this season, while Schoning is second on the team with 1,637 minutes played in her first collegiate season. Senior Chloe Urig and junior Emma Faubert have also balanced the Buccaneers defense and offense, lining up at defensive midfield for CSU this season.

Inside the goal, Cody has recorded shutouts in three of her past four starts inside the net, with the lone goal given up coming this past Tuesday in the Bucs 1-0 loss to Coastal Carolina. For the season, the redshirt junior has a 1.13 goals allowed average with 55 saves on the season, posting an .873 save percentage on the year. McLaughlin has also been a steadfast player in goal for the Bucs, posting a 4-7-1 record with two shutouts of her own, sitting third in the Big South with 93 saves on the year.

The winner of the Buccaneers and Highlanders will advance to the Big South Championships semifinal round to take on the winner of #5 Coastal Carolina and #4 Winthrop, hosted at the Coastal Carolina Soccer Complex in Conway, S.C. The semifinals will be held on Friday, November 8, with the Championship match on Sunday, November 10th.