After losing to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in a 4-1 blowout and having their first overtime loss since the 2011 season against Coastal Carolina, the Lancers moved back into the win column with an impressive 2-0 shutout against the Winthrop Eagles.
The Lancers have had a hard time getting the offense going over the last couple of games, but that all changed Saturday against the Eagles with seven shots on goal and 15 shots overall. It was a dominant performance for the Lancers both offensively and defensively.
The win over the Eagles was big for the team and it was much needed. Head Coach Todd Dyer was adamant about the team’s strong performance.
“That was the [best] first-half soccer we’ve played all year, and we had two great goals to show for it.
Defensively, we had to deal with some pressure in the second half, but we were still able to earn the shutout. Machen played a massive role in that with her performance in goal tonight,” said Dyer. “Massive role” is an understatement. Junior goalkeeper Hailey Machen had an extremely impressive performance with four saves in her second full shutout win of the season; the first full win came against Howard University. Machen is well aware of the importance of her solid goaltending. “It’s a lot of responsibility,” Machen stated. “Everyone relies on you as the last line of defense, but you have to put that same faith in your entire team. That’s what I do. I put my faith in my team, and we have such an awesome team. I can tell them anything and they listen. They can stop anything in front of them.”
Machen was also happy to be back on the Lancers’ home field after 17 days and four games on the road. “It definitely feels good to be home,” said Machen, “especially with Lancer Strong and having the support of our athletes and classmates and families… just having everyone here, it makes a huge difference.”
The Lancers will follow their third shutout win of the season with a home game against Francis Marion, and with a road trip against Big South rival Radford at their home field.
Francis Marion, who has had an ugly season thus far with a 0-8 record, has been shut out on four different occasions, including an embarrassing 8-0 route against UNC Wilmington and 6-0 thumping against East Carolina.
Now, the team is 0-9 and can add another embarrassing loss to their column after Longwood defeated the Patriots Tuesday 6-1; six different Lancers scored in the game. Of the six Lancers that scored Tuesday, four of them earned their first collegiate goal.
Radford, however, who, like the Lancers, are 5-4-1 on the season, are red hot and currently rolling with a 4-game winning streak, including two overtime wins against Presbyterian and Charleston Southern, the latter going into double-overtime.
The Lancers have not beaten the Highlanders since the 2010 season, so it should be quite an intriguing game for both teams come Saturday afternoon.
The game against Radford starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. You can keep track of the game by watching the live stats at longwoodlancers.com or by watching the game via the Big South Network’s online live streaming.
