October 7, 2008

BOX SCORE

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Longwood University men's soccer team (6-4-1) defeated Navy (4-7-1) in a road match on Tuesday evening by the score of 2-0. The Lancers received their insurance goal from junior Chenor Diallo/Alexandria (Mount Vernon) in the 79th minute of action. Longwood returns to action on Tuesday, October 14, taking on North Florida for the teams second consecutive road match. The game is set to begin at 4 p.m.
   
The game turned out to be a battle of wills with both teams keeping things statistically even, with Navy edging out Longwood 11-7 in shots. Longwood took control of the game in the opening 15 minutes, with junior Brian Germain/McLean (Langley) scoring in the fifth minute. Germains goal came off a pass from freshman Shane Johnson/Ashburn (Broad Run), which Germain was able to slip into the left corner of the goal.
   
Following the Germain goal, Navy began playing direct soccer, lifting balls over the top, forcing the Longwood defense to be on high alert. The Lancers' defense was unfazed by the change of style, managing to limit Navy to four first half shots.
   
The second half of action was very similar to the first, with the Lancers taking control out of the gates, before Navy began playing direct. However, Navy's direct style would not keep the Lancers from getting their second goal of the game from Diallo 11 minutes before the end of the game. The Diallo goal came after the 5-7, forward beat the Navy defense down the left side of the field and fired a shot on goal. The Navy keeper got his hand on the ball, but the shot from Diallo was too hot for him to handle, finding its way into net.
   
Freshman Joel Helmick/Springfield (W.T. Woodson) was the leader on defense once again for the Lancers, coming up with three saves, while recording his second shutout of the season.
   
“Our defense played very well,” head coach Jon Atkinson said. “Joel controlled the defense very well. The defense and the men in front of them all worked their tails off. With Navy playing direct things got a little scary, with the ball pinging around in the box, but our defense came up with some good headers. Overall it was a good team effort and we got the result.”