September 16, 2008

BOX SCORE

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Longwood University men's soccer team (2-3-1) had its dreams of a late game comeback shot down on Tuesday night, falling to UNC Asheville 3-2. Sophomore Harvey Headley/Coventry, England (Stoke Park) and Martin Vickerton/Derbyshire, England (Kirk Hallam Technical College) both scored their team leading second goals of the season. Longwood returns home for its next match-up, which comes on September 20 at the Athletics Complex against VMI at 1 p.m.
  
Longwood was forced to play with 10 players to Ashevilles' (1-2-1) 11 when a decision by the referee in the 29th minute of action saw freshman keeper Joel Helmick/Springfield (W.T. Woodson) sent off the field. Despite being down a player the Lancers' played a strong first half, out-shooting the Bulldogs 6-4, while having a 4-0 advantage in corners. Chernor Diallo/Alexandria (Mount Vernon) nearly put the Lancers up 1-0 in the 10th minute of the game, forcing the Asheville keeper to come up with back-to-back saves. However neither team was able to find the net, sending both teams into the locker room with a 0-0 stalemate.

"We started off the game well," said head coach Jon Atkinson. "We had a great flow to the game and good possession. Ashville started hitting diagonal balls across the field, which caught us under pressure, but overall the game was ours."
   
Asheville jumped on the board in the 61st minute, when Jake Sides tapped in a ball from five yards out. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead a little while later off of a pass across the box that was headed into the net. The Lancers refused to back down with Headley earning one back for his side in the 85th minute. Just two minutes later (86:11) the game appeared to be headed into overtime when Vickerton buried one in the back of the net, scoring on a direct kick.

The Bulldogs would end the game in regulation, scoring the game winning goal off a free kick in the 90th minute.

"Harvey and Martin worked their tails off for us today. There are so many players on this team that are playing with maturity and grace, but unfortunately not everybody is. We are our own worst enemies and let games get away from us because we are not playing mature soccer. In order for our program to progress and move forward we need to increase the maturity level. There were errors all over the field today and we threw this one away. It's that simple."
   
   
Sophomore Avery Makel/Nellysford (Nelson County) played 62 minutes in net for the Lancers, making two saves, while the Longwood defense earned a team save.