10.31.2011

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University played its final women's soccer match of the season this past weekend.  The Lancers took a 3-0 shutout victory on the road at fellow Independent Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina on October 30.  Longwood completes its 2011 campaign with a final record of 7-7-4 for its sixth consecutive season with a record of at least .500 or better.  Veteran 18th-year head coach Todd Dyer '93 now has an overall record of 193-119-20 (.611) as the program's only head coach, including 14 winning seasons.

Recapping Francis Marion
Longwood and Francis Marion were scoreless at the intermission before the Lancers took control early in the second half as junior captain Lindsey Ottavio|Fairfax (W.T. Woodson) scored her third goal of the season in the 54th minute, a goal that proved to be the game-winner.  Ottavio finished a cross in the box from senior Mackenzie King|Stafford (North Stafford) with her successful attempt from about six yards.  King added her own unassisted goal just a few minutes later in the 58th minute when she blasted a shot from about 24 yards on the right side into the upper 90 for her first goal of the season.  The visitors made it a three-goal match in the 67th minute when redshirt-freshman Stephanie Green|Monkton, Md. (North Harford) scored the first goal of her college career, assisted by senior captain Kacie Oliver|Portsmouth, R.I. (Portsmouth), taking a cross and placing her shot over the keeper's head from about 14 yards.  The three goals were the most scored by Longwood in a match all fall. Junior keeper Kyra Byron|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) played the duration for the Lancers and earned her sixth shutout this season despite not registering a save as the only stop was credited to the team in the 81st minute.

Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“At Francis Marion this weekend we finally had our 'breakout' performance on offense.  Three goals may not sound like an offensive explosion, but it's the most goals we've scored all year and it's long overdue considering the high quality of soccer we've played all season and the many chances we've created along the way.  Plus, the shutout on the road makes it a total team performance, so we're proud of that as well.

“In the first half we had tons of possession and were getting forward, but we weren't quite clicking with the final pass.  We talked about that at halftime, along with a few changes in our movement and attacking options, and we just came out flying in the second half.  Max King had a career day and was a tremendous offensive threat getting forward out of the back.  This culminated with her assist on the first goal, finished by Ottavio, and then Max hit an absolute BOMB to give us our second goal and a little breathing room.  We kept it 'in the family' on our third goal when Max's cousin, Steph Green, scored her first career goal on a beautiful service from Kacie.  At that point, we were able to play a lot of girls and it was really special to see six of our seniors finish their careers all on the field together for the final 15-plus minutes.  It was a great day for us and a perfect way to end our season on a high note.”

Leading The Lancers | Final Statistics
Sophomore Kelsey Pardue|Henrico (Hermitage) led Longwood in scoring this season with her six goals and six assists, totaling 18 points through 18 matches.  She led the Lancers in every offensive category, including goals, assists, points, shots (43), shots on goal (20), and game-winning goals (2, tied with Oliver and Ottavio).  Pardue was followed by Kacie Oliver (6g, 1a, 13p), junior Nikki Glisson|Mechanicsville (Hanover) (3g, 3a, 9p), Lindsey Ottavio (3g, 2a, 8p), freshman Kelsey McDonald|Kennett Square, Pa. (Unionville) (2g, 2a, 6p), Mackenzie King (1g, 2a, 4p), fifth-year senior Alex Myers|Stafford (Colonial Forge) (1g, 2p) and Stephanie Green (1g, 2p), along with freshman Rebecca Soares|Virginia Beach (Kempsville) (1a, 1p).  Kyra Byron played 1428:58 in front of the net while allowing only 14 goals (0.88) with 55 saves (.797) and the six shutouts, facing 142 shots.  Sophomore keeper Shelby Hall|Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) played 321:43 in goal while yielding seven goals (1.96) with 13 saves (.650), facing 50 shots.

Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer | Part 2
“To sum up our entire season, I'd have to say it's been an adventure and well worth the ride.  Finishing at 7-7-4, we look back and certainly feel we could have won a few more games, but that's just how our season unfolded, and we have to accept that and move forward.  We lost fewer games than last year and six of our seven losses were by one goal.  On top of that, we played in eight overtime games, so it's obvious we were a very competitive team this year and right there in every single game that we played.  That's a real accomplishment considering some of our youth and inexperience, along with several critical injuries we had to deal with this year.

“We tried to play soccer the right way in terms of possession, keeping the ball on the floor and being creative with our passing, movement and individuality at times.  That shined through all year long as we created tons of scoring chances and played some of the best soccer I can remember during my time here.  The missing link this season for us was 'GOALS', and when that is missing it's hard to get the results that maybe we deserved.  That's just soccer, and what we lacked this year in scoring offense we more than made up for in showing our team character and resiliency by playing in so many tight games against strong competition.  In the long run, that's going to be very productive for our program.

“Now we have to say good-bye to a special group of seniors.  They all played important roles for us throughout their careers, so filling that void will be an immediate challenge for us.  Three seniors in particular had fantastic final seasons for us and all three played in new positions for the first time.  Kacie has been 'itching' to get forward for us since her freshman year, so this year we allowed her to play an attacking midfield role for us, and it paid off in the form of a career-high six goals.  That all happened because Alex fell into a defensive midfield position for us after being an attacking player and goal scorer throughout her career.  Her fitness and quickness was apparent early on and since she kept tracking back in midfield and defending, we finally just had her stay there, and it ended up being a natural fit.  Finally, Max left her midfield position and played outside back for us all year, mainly out of necessity, and she ended up being one of our most consistent and effective performers throughout.  And a person/player of her character and work ethic deserves a final season like that.

“All in all, Longwood women's soccer is rock solid, and we're all eager to move forward and build for the future.  But first we're going to get some rest, reflect on a very hard-fought season and go watch some basketball games at Willett Hall.  Go Lancers!”

In The Record Book
Kyra Byron ranks second in career goals against average for keepers at Longwood with her 0.81 gaa.  She has allowed just 23 goals while playing 2563 minutes through three seasons.  She also ranks in a tie for third in season shutouts (6), matching Amy Kennedy (1998) and Lindsay Naill (2001, 2003).  Lindsey Ottavio ranks fifth in career goals for the Lancers with her 22 goals through three seasons.

Oh No, Not Again …
Longwood played a program-record eight overtime contests this year, totaling 15 extra periods.  Unfortunately, the OT matches were not kind to the Lancers who only won one of the beyond-regulation matches (Tennessee Tech).  Longwood tied four (Richmond, Liberty, George Mason, Eastern Kentucky), and lost three (East Tennessee State, Appalachian State, Morehead State) of the OT contests.  The Lancers played 1,750-plus minutes for an average of 97-plus minutes per match – equivalent to a full additional match-plus.  Ironically, Longwood did not play one overtime match during 2010 (19 matches).  The previous record for OT matches was six played during 2008.

Oh So Close …
Longwood played every opponent extremely close this season with the exception of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member North Carolina State (L 1-4, Oct. 7).  Six of the Lancers' seven losses were by just one goal, including three in double-overtime.  As mentioned, Longwood played a program-record eight overtime matches this season, going 1-3-4 in those extra-period contests.

No Place Like Home
Longwood is now 40-14-2 (.732) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006, though finishing an uncharacteristic 5-4-1 at home this season.  The Lancers are 33-13-1 (.713) at home since attaining its NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.  Longwood averaged 384 in home attendance during 2011, its second-highest average behind last season (391), though the Lancers did draw a record crowd of 1,839 to The Game 2.0 against Howard (W 2-0, August 21).

A Special Group Of Seniors
Longwood recognized its eight seniors on the roster during a pre-game ceremony prior to the match against Eastern Kentucky Oct. 21.  Those Lancers making their final home appearances included Katie Devlin|Fairfax (W.T. Woodson), Alex Myers, Alecia McConnell|Carlisle, Pa. (Carlisle), Kristen McGough|Florence, Ala. (Stony Point, Texas), Kacie Oliver, Dylan Spicker|Sherman Oaks, Calif. (Hickory, Va.), Mackenzie King, and Soraya Serra|Round Hill (Loudoun Valley).  During the last five years that members of this class have been a part of the program, Longwood has attained a winning record of 47-39-8 (.543).

Season & Career-Ending Injury
Unfortunately, fifth-year senior defender and second-year team captain Katie Devlin suffered a season-ending (right) knee injury 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.

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

The Coaching Staff
Eighteenth-year head coach Todd Dyer '93 led Longwood and was 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.

Up Next
The off-season awaits Longwood.