The Longwood University men's soccer team defeated Houston Baptist University last Friday night 2-1. The game was Senior Night for the men's team, and was held at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Freshman Zach Crandall continued to play well, scoring the first goal for the Lancers in the 37th minute, while sophomore Nick Surkamp scored on a penalty kick in the 42nd minute. The win improved Longwood to 11-6-1.
It took much of the first half for any action to take place as both teams struggled to get control of the ball in rainy and cold conditions. Longwood began to push the issue as the half drew to a close. Senior Zack Mahon got hold of the ball and sent a pass in Crandall's direction. Crandall's kick deflected off the Huskies' goalkeeper, Kevin Suarez, and into the net to give Longwood the 1-0 lead. Surkamp's goal came at 41:51 after he was knocked down by Suarez on a breakaway. He made the penalty kick, putting the Lancers ahead 2-0.
The second half was controlled by Longwood. Houston Baptist was unable to get off any shot attempts until the 67th minute. Marcos Escobar of the Huskies finally scored the lone goal for his team on a breakaway in the 81st minute. Longwood was able to hold off Houston Baptist for the last nine minutes of the game to score the win.
"Above everything else, the result was the essential ingredient," said head coach Jon Atkinson on longwoodlancers.com. "I'm delighted to get it for conference standings, as well as to honor the seniors in the best possible send-off. The game was representative of the weather on the night, a bit dreary and cold, and once again we had to figure out how to break down a stubborn, well-organized team. We could, and should, have made it easier on ourselves, and will have to improve come conference tournament time. Tonight we can feel good about our season accomplishments. I want to thank our seniors and parents from the bottom of my heart."
Longwood outshot the competition 12-5 (7-1 shots on goal). The Lancers also had a 7-1 edge in corner kicks. Crandall recorded a game-high six shot attempts for Longwood, five of which were on goal. Surkamp and senior Chris Saul also played well for the Lancers, and had two shot attempts apiece. Senior goalie Joel Helmick played the entire 90 minutes for Longwood. Escobar led the Huskies with two shot attempts. Suarez played all 90 minutes in goal for Houston Baptist and had five saves. Before play began, four Longwood seniors (Helmick, Mahon, Saul and Shane Johnson) were honored in a ceremony.
The men's team reached 11 wins for the first time since the 2002 season. The team's 11-6-1 record is also the best it has been since the 2002 season. The Lancers round out their season by competing in the ASC Tournament on Nov. 10-13. The tournament will be played in Garden City, N.Y. and will be hosted by Adelphi University.
