Longwood's women's soccer team played two games this week against Big South Conference opponents. The first was a home game against Radford University on Sept. 16 when the Lancers lost by a score of 1-0. The Lancers then traveled to Lexington, Va. to play Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on Sept. 18. The Lancers were victorious against the Keydets, winning 1-0. Neither of the games were played in overtime, which is the first time this has happened since Aug. 25. The Lancers are 3-4-3 this season.
The game between the Highlanders and the Lancers was scoreless through the first half and for most of the second half. The only goal of the match was scored by Radford in the79th minute. After a free kick, a loose ball landed in front of a Radford player in front of the net. The Highlander kicked the ball into the net for the goal. Longwood almost scored three times at the60th-61st minutes, but each shot was saved.
"I think I would rather play another overtime game than lose a tight one like that," said head coach Todd Dyer after the game. "I thought it was close and it was a battle. Radford did a good job defensively; they closed us down quick and hard. That unsettled us a little in the first half. In the second half, we dictated a lot of the flow of play. We were getting to the goal, but it was the same story for us. We have to find a way to score those goals. To get results you have to score goals. We just have to make something happen for ourselves where the ball ends up in the net. That's what's holding us back right now."
Longwood and VMI were also scoreless through the first half of play. However, Longwood outshot VMI 13-0 in the first half. Longwood maintained control of the ball for the remainder of the contest, with sophomore Kelsey Pardue scoring the only goal in the66th minute. Kyra Byron, the goalkeeper for Longwood, recorded her third shut-out of the season.
In a press release from longwoodlancers.com, Coach Dyer said, "At VMI, I thought we had one of our best performances of the year in terms of possession, creativity and really dictating the flow and rhythm of the game. We held the ball well as a team, had plenty of shots on-goal and ultimately we broke through on a tremendous individual effort and finish by Kelsey Pardue. We limited VMI to only a couple of chances on-goal and finished with a shutout on the road, so I'm very pleased with our work on the defensive side of the ball. Now, we look forward to a great week of practice as we prepare for upcoming home matches this weekend against Charleston Southern and South Carolina State."
The Lancers did receive some bad news this week. Fifth-year senior and second-year team captain Katie Devlin is out for the rest of the season with a right knee injury. Devlin suffered the injury a few games ago at George Mason.
Longwood will play two home matches this weekend. They host another Big South member in Charleston Southern University on Friday, Sept. 23 at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. First kick is set for 4 p.m. The Lancers also host South Carolina State University of the Great West Conference on Sunday, Sept. 25 in Farmville. First kick for that game is 2 p.m. It will be Family Weekend at Longwood this weekend. Longwood is 37-12-1 (.750) at the Athletics Complex since play started there in 2006. This season, they are 2-2 at home.
