With six minutes left in the game, senior forward Zach Crandall and redshirt freshman forward Willy Miezan connected to score the late game-winner, ultimately upsetting Navy (2-2-1) 2-1 after an eventful second half last Friday, Sep. 11.
“It’s always a test of character. They knew that they were competing. We all played our part from the bench through,” said men’s soccer head coach Jon Atkinson.
Following halftime, Longwood (2-1) scored the go-ahead goal in the first five minutes when senior forward Christian Keilty found Miezan’s feet in the box, firing his shot far post.
“My goal is just to work hard and the rest comes,” said Miezan.
Miezan has come off the bench to score in every game. He currently holds the No. 1 spot for goals per game and points per game nationally, tied with a freshman from University of South Carolina.
The Lancers held the 1-0 lead for 20 minutes until a shirt tug in the box gave Navy a penalty kick. Navy sophomore forward Aubrey Jones scored for his third goal of the season, retying the game.
“(The penalty kick) was unfortunate because it gave them a way back into the game when I don’t think they were going to get a way back into the game,” said Longwood senior goalkeeper Carl Carpenter.
Carpenter faced ten shots and four corners in the second half; overall Carpenter finished the game with a season high of six saves.
Less than three minutes after re-entering the game, Miezan sent a low driven ball across the box for Crandall’s game-winning goal.
Navy was coming off of a 3-0 home shutout of Ohio State University last Sunday, Sep. 6 and was ranked No. 2 in the Northeast by the most recent NSCAA poll.
“Navy’s a team that brings a lot of intensity. They’re going to come at you, and we felt like we didn’t match UNCG’s (University of North Carolina-Greensboro) intensity last game. So, we wanted to go out strong,” said Carpenter.
After losing to UNCG the week prior, attributed to the sudden increase of pace, according to Atkinson, replicating the higher intensity level was a main aspect of Longwood’s training leading to the Navy game.
“You learn as much from defeats as you do from wins. There was an awareness that we got from the UNCG game that carried over into this one that allowed us to compete,” said Atkinson.
On Tuesday, Sep. 15, Longwood will travel to Appalachian State College (3-1) in Boone, North Carolina.
Appalachian State defeated Longwood 3-2 in Farmville, Virginia last season.
According to Carpenter, the result from Navy “gives us a good stepping stone moving forward.”
“They’re the type of team that we want to beat. We just have to keep this momentum going,” he said.
Redshirt freshman Willy Miezan tallied a goal and an assist against Navy last Friday.
Senior forward Zach Crandall scored the game-winner against Navy, putting Longwood up 2-1 in the final minutes.
