Former Highlander legends Nelia Perez and Jasmine Casarez have moved on as teammates for Puerto Rico Sol FC, a professional soccer club based in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, that competes in a league called Liga Puerto Rico.
Casarez and Perez were stars when they wore the Highlander uniforms. On the field together in 2018, the duo paired up on nine goals that were assisted by the other and totaled 12 goals in the three years they spent together at Radford.
The most notable shining moment for Casarez and Perez came in 2018 when Radford won the first of two straight Big South Tournament Championships for which Casarez earned Tournament MVP honors in addition to her Attacking Player of the Year award. Perez was named to the All-Tournament team in that 2018 championship run.
After Casarez graduated in 2019, the duo was split up for a while. Casarez pursued her professional career while in her senior season Perez led the Highlanders in points and earned First-Team All-Big South honors and her own Big South Tournament MVP nod as Radford won that second-consecutive title.
While Perez continued to make her mark on the field for the Highlanders, in October 2019, Casarez announced that she had signed with Puerto Rico Sol FC. Her relationship with her coaches in Puerto Rico helped Perez eventually to wind up with the club. In addition to her decorated career in Radford, Perez competes for the Puerto Rican senior women’s national team.
That place on the national team and some advocacy from Casarez allowed the Puerto Rico Sol brass to see Perez play, and in September 2021, Perez announced that she had signed with the club. Since then, the pair of Highlanders find themselves regularly in the starting 11 for the club, continuing their rich history of on-field success.
Casarez lists the 2018 Big South title as her favorite memory in Radford red, but the connection the two players share on the field extends off the field. When Casarez speaks of that 2018 championship, the love she holds for her teammates comes through so that winning the title is a cherished memory but doing it with a group of people who truly cared about each other made it that much better.
Said Casarez, “It was so great. [Nelia] got that beautiful goal; it was just so cool to experience something like that, being able to graduate with a ring.”
Ultimately, the belief instilled in Casarez and Perez by Radford head coach Ben Sohrabi allowed them to see the possibility of turning pro.
“Without Coach Sohrabi and our teammates, we wouldn’t be here right now,” said Perez. “He encouraged us and told us all ‘you have the ability to play pro.'”
Casarez echoed the sentiment, saying, “I feel really grateful to have played at Radford and to represent Radford in Puerto Rico. That’s something I’m really grateful for.”
Casarez said that the reaction when she says that she went to Radford is often that of surprise, but Perez and she wear their love for their alma mater on their sleeves. While having two players from a school the size of Radford on one professional team may surprise some, it probably shouldn’t. Radford women’s soccer has a strong history of success under coach Sohrabi and a history that Casarez and Perez put their mark on.
