10.10.2011

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University played two women's soccer home matches this past week at the Athletics Complex in Farmville.  The Lancers (5-6-3) took a 2-0 shutout past the New Jersey Institute of Technology of the Great West Conference on October 9, following a 4-1 setback to North Carolina State University of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Oct. 7.  Longwood remains at home for one match this week against visiting Cleveland State University of the Horizon League on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m.

Recapping North Carolina State, NJIT
North Carolina State scored just over a minute into the match (1:04), and led 2-0 at the intermission en route to the 4-1 road victory.  Sophomore Kelsey Pardue|Henrico (Hermitage) scored the only goal of the match for Longwood in the 57th minute, briefly closing the margin to 2-1, before the Wolfpack added their final two goals within the next four minutes.  Sophomore Shelby Hall|Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) started at goalkeeper and played the first half for the Lancers with one save, while junior Kyra Byron|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) played the second half with five saves.

Senior captain Kacie Oliver|Portsmouth, R.I. (Portsmouth) scored the first goal against NJIT in the 19th minute when she took a nice through ball in the box from Pardue and finished the play into the net at 18:53.  Longwood increased the margin to 2-0 in the 56th minute when Pardue was fed another nice ball in the box, this time from junior Nikki Glisson|Mechanicsville (Hanover), and beat the keeper at 55:50.  Byron played the duration in front of the net with two saves to preserve her fourth shutout this season.

A Quick Look At Cleveland State
Cleveland State is coached by eighth-year head coach Derrek Falor, and is currently 8-5-1 overall, and 1-3-1 in the Horizon League following a 1-0 road loss at Valparaiso on Oct. 9.  Senior Natalie Daniels has led the Vikings with three goals and six assists.  Senior keeper Becky Williams has played 1,023:47 in goal for CSU, yielding 12 goals (1.05) with 53 saves (.815) and four shutouts.  Longwood and Cleveland State are meeting for the first time.

Head Coach Todd Dyer
“Looking back on the week, I think we learned a lot about ourselves against N.C. State, and we earned a much needed result against NJIT.  Against N.C. State we went into the game with a solid game plan, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but ultimately their quality, depth and timely goals were a little too much for us to handle.  At 2-1 in the second half we were sitting in a good position in terms of being able to really get something out of the game, but two quick goals changed that drastically, and at 4-1 it was just a little too much to overcome.  At that point we were able to get some playing time for a lot of our players, and they were able to experience that environment of competing against an ACC program.

“Our match up with NJIT pretty much summed up our season in terms of having tons of possession, creating lots of chances, but maybe not scoring as many goals as we deserve.  Defensively we were solid, and it showed in the end with our shutout performance.  Offensively we got behind their back line numerous times but couldn't quite connect that final pass and find that finishing touch in the box.  We did score two goals, coming from Kacie and Kelsey who have been tremendous for us in midfield this year, but we'd still like to see more of our front runners get on the end of their own creativity and hard work by scoring those goals they deserve and that we need as a team.

“Now we're down to our final two home games, and first up will be Cleveland State who is having an outstanding fall season, and it shows with their record.  It's our first time facing them, so we're eager to see how we match up against one of the stronger teams in the Horizon League this year.  We'll have to play very well on both sides of the ball to get something out of the game, but we've proven we're capable of that level of performance.  We just need to put it all together for 90 minutes, limit mental mistakes and finish our chances when they are presented.”

Leading The Lancers | Season Statistics
Kelsey Pardue leads Longwood with her five goals and four assists through 14 matches, followed by Kacie Oliver with five goals and Nikki Glisson with three goals and three assists. Junior captain Lindsey Ottavio|Fairfax (W.T. Woodson) and Kelsey McDonald each have one goal and two assists, followed by fifth-year senior Alex Myers|Stafford (Colonial Forge) with one goal, and senior Mackenzie King|Stafford (North Stafford) adds one assist.  Kyra Byron has played 1,138:58 in front of the net while allowing 13 goals (1.03) with 45 saves (.776) and the four shutouts, while Shelby Hall has played 217:50 in goal while yielding four goals (1.65) with five saves (.556).

Last Five & Oh So Close
Longwood is 3-2 in its last five matches, including wins over VMI, South Carolina State, and NJIT.  The Lancers have played every opponent extremely close this fall with the exception of the recent match against North Carolina State.  Five of the six losses this season have been by just one goal, including two in double-overtime.  Longwood has only four matches remaining while looking to post its sixth consecutive winning campaign.

On The Board
Lindsey Ottavio scored her first goal of the season against South Carolina State on Sept. 25.  She now has 20 goals in her career to rank fifth all-time.

First Collegiate Start
Shelby Hall started her first collegiate match at goalkeeper against South Carolina State on Sept. 25, and played the duration for the Lancers with two saves. She is a junior academically at Longwood, though only joined the women's soccer program last spring while a first-year team member.  She was a member of the Washington Freedom U20 team that advanced to the 2010 National U20 Finals in Chicago.

No Place Like Home
Longwood is 39-14-1 (.731) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006, though an uncharacteristic 4-4 at home this season.  The Lancers finished 8-2 at home last season, and are 32-13 (.711) at the Athletics Complex since attaining its NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.

Here We Go Again …
Longwood played six overtime contests during the first eight matches this year, totaling 11 extra 10-minute periods.  Unfortunately, the OT matches were not kind to the Lancers who only won one of the beyond-regulation matches (Tennessee Tech).  Longwood tied three (Richmond, Liberty, George Mason), and lost two (East Tennessee State, Appalachian State) of the OT contests.  Longwood has played 1,356-plus minutes for an average of 96-plus minutes per match – equivalent to a full additional match-plus.  Ironically, the Lancers did not play one overtime match during all of last season (19 matches) when the program finished 11-8.

Season & Career-Ending Injury
Unfortunately, fifth-year senior defender and second-year team captain Katie Devlin|Fairfax (W.T. Woodson) will miss the remainder of the season following a (right) knee injury suffered at George Mason Sept. 11.  This is the second time during her career that such an injury has happened to her.  Devlin injured her other (left) knee early during her sophomore (2008) campaign and missed the remainder of that year before receiving a medical hardship waiver that allowed this fifth year with the program.

The Coaching Staff
Eighteenth-year head coach Todd Dyer '93 leads Longwood and is assisted by associate head coach Steve Brdarski, in his eighth season, along with director of soccer operations Lindsey Williams and graduate assistant Marcia Biddle '10.  Dyer is the only coach in the program's history as he has attained an overall coaching record of 191-118-19 (.611) over 17-plus years, including 14 winning seasons.

2011 Captains
Katie Devlin is serving as a team captain for the second consecutive season, while senior defender/midfielder Kacie Oliver and junior forward Lindsey Ottavio are in the team leadership roles for the first time.

Up Next
Longwood will play two matches next week, hosting Eastern Kentucky University of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) on Oct. 21 at the Athletics Complex in Farmville for Senior Night at 7 p.m., before traveling to OVC member Morehead State University on Oct. 23 in Morehead, Kentucky at 1 p.m.