Longwood men’s soccer head coach Jon Atkinson said his team is hurting itself in the final third as a 2-0 road defeat by No. 2 Presbyterian (5-7-1, 3-1) for their third-straight loss with four to go in Big South play on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The Lancers (4-8-1, 1-3) have been outscored by opponents 7-1 over the past three games, all away. Unlike against No. 3 High Point or Navy, Longwood controlled the majority of the possession and outshot the Blue Hose, doubling their opponent’s shots on goal, 11-5.
“A loss is a loss. It’s an unfortunate part of the business, but we have to admit we are hurting ourselves. We are playing some good stuff. We are arguably the better team in terms of possession but we’ve got to learn how to be more effective in our possession,” said Atkinson. “Where other teams are finding a way to score against us, that’s just something we have to work out.”
The Blue Hose first goal shocked Longwood in the last two minutes of the first half, coming off the boot of leading scorer senior forward Mason Lewis, his seventh on the season. Lewis is ranked fifth in the conference for goals scored.
“It was a bit of a gut punch. We were in control; up until then they had only had transitional opportunities up to that point, and even then we weren’t really nervous,” said Atkinson.
Returning from the locker room for the final 45 minutes, the head coach said his team came out with more urgency and improved on breaking Presbyterian down by opening the field. The Lancers looked to switch the ball throughout their possession to reveal spaces in the middle.
While Longwood continued to control possession, firing seven shots on goal, ultimately Presbyterian not only held their lead, but squeezed another one past Longwood senior goalkeeper Carlos Canas in the final minutes of the game after a missed clearance in the 18-yard box.
“We play a pretty ball game, possession-style of football,” said Atkinson. “But on defense, we can leave opportunities for us to be capitalized on, and if we pull ourselves up a bit more, be more pragmatic, I think that would help us.”
The Lancers return home on Monday, Oct. 17 to face No. 8 Gardner-Webb (3-8, 1-2) after their game was postponed from Oct. 8 due to waterlogged field conditions. A win would allow the Lancers to trade positions with the Runnin’ Bulldogs and leave their second-to-last spot in the conference standings.
Atkinson said he believes his team will pull out the victory after the quick turnaround on Monday, hoping to see his players “find a stronger character to fight ourselves out of adverse situations.”
