The magical turnaround of the Longwood women’s soccer team continued as they grinded through to a penalty shootout win over Gardner-Webb in the Big South quarterfinals. The Lancers now move on to the semifinal round where they will face High Point.
"Once again our team defense was our strength, and obviously Kirby did her thing in the shootout," said head coach Todd Dyer on the official Longwood athletics website. "We'll relish this, rest and recover and enjoy watching the other three quarterfinals this weekend. For now, how 'bout them Lancers?"
Going into the match on Oct. 28, the No. 5 seed Lancers were coming off successive clean sheets and had allowed just two goals in October. That trend continued against in North Carolina as Kirby and the Lancer backline shutout the No. 4 seed Runnin’ Bulldogs, who had won five straight coming into the tournament.
"I'm just so proud of everyone," said Kirby on the official Longwood athletics website. "It was a compete team effort, and we're super excited to be advancing."
However, Longwood could not make a breakthrough of their own against the home side, despite outshooting Gardner-Webb 21-15 and 9-7 in shots on goal.
With both teams unable to find a winner after two overtime periods, the penalty lottery proved to be the difference. Kirby held off the hosts in the first two rounds, and the Lancers raced to a 3-0 shootout lead before senior defender Jayden Metzger sealed the win in the fifth round.
"Both teams battled to the very end, and you hate to see anyone's season end like that. We feel fortunate to advance, and Gardner-Webb deserves a lot of credit for the season they had this year," said Dyer on the official Longwood athletics website.
After going just 3-6-0 in non-conference play, Dyer’s squad has been imposing against Big South foes, posting a 5-3-1 record. The quarterfinal win was the Lancers’ first tournament victory since 2012 as the team has caught fire against conference opponents at the perfect time.
Longwood now travel to Greensboro, N.C. where they will face No. 1 seed High Point in the semifinal round. The Lancers drew 0-0 with the Panthers earlier this season, and will hope to continue their tournament run on Nov. 4.
