The Longwood women’s soccer team used two road victories this past week in the state of South Carolina to make their way into the top four of the Big South regular season standings.
The road trip included 3-2 and 2-0 wins over the Presbyterian Blue Hose (6-9-0, 2-5-0) and Charleston Southern Buccaneers (6-6-2, 3-4-0) to extend their unbeaten streak to five games.
The Lancers were led by junior Big South Player of the Week and forward Amanda Spencer who scored three goals and added an assist in South Carolina, giving her six goals on the season.
In the first matchup against the Blue Hose, Spencer knocked in the equalizer in the 23rd minute and assisted on senior midfielder Bridget Bergquist’s goal in the 76th minute to give Longwood a 3-1 lead at the time. Senior midfielder Olivia Colella added a goal and assist as well to bring her season total to three goals.
"We went down a goal on the road and responded with three straight goals, and in the end that was enough to earn the result," said Longwood women’s soccer head coach Todd Dyer on the official Longwood athletics website. "It got a little dicey there at the end as we were rotating players in and out of the game, but we learned some valuable lessons and can apply it to future games in terms of game management."
In the victory, the Lancers used a season-high 22 players as Dyer emptied the bench on both ends of the field in the second half. The victory also saw the return of senior defender Katie Beebe who had been sidelined for a few games due to an ankle injury.
On Saturday, sophomore goalkeeper Maria Kirby tallied nine saves behind Spencer’s two goals to complete the 2-0 shutout of Charleston Southern. The shutout was the sixth from Kirby this season and the seventh overall for the Lancers.
Kirby’s performance denied Big South leading goal scorer and junior forward Anna Sells on a few occasions. Sells sent four of her five shots on goal, but Kirby stood tall to preserve the shutout and keep the hot streak alive for the Lancers.
"Another defensive shutout and three more points earned on the road," said Dyer on the official Longwood athletics website. "We played a lot of quality soccer, but we also exposed some areas we still need to improve on. Campbell is our focus now."
Since their last nonconference game against then No. 5 West Virginia, the Lancers have gone 5-1-2 with their lone loss coming in overtime against Coastal Carolina.
The Lancers will look to continue their climb in the Big South as they host two of the three teams currently ahead of them in the standings, No. 2 Liberty (7-7-1, 5-2-0) and No. 3 Campbell (10-6-0, 5-3-0).
The first of those comes Wednesday night, Oct. 21, when the Fightin’ Camels come to town, followed by a road contest at UNC Asheville over the weekend, then finally a showdown with Route 460 rival Liberty on Senior Night next week in what could determine the top two seeds in the Big South.
