ONLINE TEAM GUIDE / BIG SOUTH WEEKLY RELEASE (PDF)
VMI LIVE STATS / VMI LIVE VIDEO
LONGWOOD LIVE STATS / LONGWOOD LIVE VIDEO
FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood continues Big South Conference action this week at in-state opponent VMI on Wednesday, October 2 at 4 p.m. in Lexington, before hosting two-time defending league tournament champion and in-state rival Radford on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Farmville. The Lancers are 3-5-2 overall, 2-0 in the Big South after a pair of conference-opening shutout victories this past week, including a 1-0, double-overtime home win against Coastal Carolina on September 25 and a 3-0 road win at Winthrop on Sept. 28 in South Carolina.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
"Going into the first week of conference play, we knew we had our work cut out for us having to face Coastal and Winthrop. Coastal was a very tight, physical game and it took overtime for us to earn that final result. Winthrop was our third game of the week, so we were a little worried about tired legs and travel making it really tough on us, especially since they had that home win streak going. However, our team really stepped up and came out flying, which led to two early goals. After that, we really settled in and gained some confidence, which allowed us to continue to push the pace and go forward.
"That's all behind us now, so our focus is week two in league play and that will start at VMI where they are always very tough, organized and resilient. The key in that game will be whether we can find another early goal to help open up the game a little bit. And then we'll host Radford on Saturday, during Oktoberfest, and that's always a big game for our two programs. The fact that they are defending champions also adds a little incentive for us. I think that will be an evenly matched and hard fought game, so it all boils down to who finishes their scoring chances."
Series History
Longwood is 8-0-1 all-time against
VMI since first meeting in 2003, with five-straight wins, including a 2-0 victory in Farmville last season. The Lancers and Keydets have played two overtime matches, including a 1-1 tie in Lexington in 2007. Longwood is 5-4-1 all-time against
Radford since first meeting in 2004, including a 2-0 win by the Highlanders in the semifinals of the Big South Championship last season. The Lancers and Radford have also played two overtime matches, including a 0-0 tie in Radford last fall during the regular season contest.
Leading The Lancers / Season Statistics
Freshman
Amanda Spencer/Gibsonia, Pennsylvania continues to lead Longwood in scoring through 10 matches with six goals totaling 12 points. Senior
Kelsey Pardue/Richmond (two goals, one assist) and freshman
Gina D'Orazio/Moseley (one goal, three assists) each add five points. Junior
Samantha Phillips/Chesapeake, along with sophomores
Olivia Colella/Herndon and
Alana Mackey/Leesburg each add one goal and two points. Junior
Kelsey McDonald/Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and freshman
Jayden Metzger/Midlothian each have contributed one assist for one point. Graduate student
Shelby Hall/Purcellville has played 933-plus minutes in front of the net, while allowing 16 goals (1.54) with 39 saves (.709) on 127 shots with four shutouts. Sophomore
Hailey Machen/Fairfax has played 21-plus minutes in front of the net, while allowing two goals (8.34) with two saves (.500) on four shots.
NCAA/Big South Statistics
Through Sept. 29,
Amanda Spencer ranked 72nd in Division I goals (6), 82nd in goals per game (0.60), 148th in points per game (1.20) and 156th in points (12).
Shelby Hall ranked 152nd in Division I saves (39). In the Big South, Longwood ranked in a tie for third in shutouts (4), fourth in shots (139) and tied for sixth in goals (13). Spencer is second in goals, third in goals per game and points, and sixth in points per game. Hall is second in shutouts and shutouts per game (0.40), tied for fifth in saves, tied for seventh in saves per game (3.90), eighth in goals against average and ninth in save percentage.
Gina D'Orazio is tied for third in assists and tied for eighth in assists per game (0.30).
Kelsey Pardue is tied for fourth in shots (28) and fifth in shots per game (2.80).
Samantha Phillips is tied for seventh in shots (23).
Success In The Big South
Longwood is 10-2-1 (.808) in 13 Big South regular season matches since becoming the league's 12th member prior to the 2012 season. The Lancers are 22-10-4 (.667) against Big South opponents since attaining their NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.
In The Record Book
Kelsey Pardue ranks second in career game-winning goals (10), tied for second in assists (20), third in shots (163), tied for sixth in goals (18), and seventh in points (56). The four-year starter has been on the field to begin 68-straight matches at Longwood.
Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week – x2
Shelby Hall was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week on Sept. 3 and again on Sept. 30. She posted her first two collegiate shutouts, working extra time in each match during a pair of double-overtime decisions against Howard on August 27 and Richmond on August 30. Hall played 110 minutes with three saves during a 0-0, double-overtime tie against the Bison at home, and posted another 110-minute effort with eight saves in a 0-0, double-OT tie against the Spiders on the road. More recently, she posted her third and fourth shutouts of the season, working extra time in the 1-0, double-overtime win against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 25. Hall played 105:17 with two saves during the home win against the Chanticleers, and posted four more saves during a 3-0 road win at Winthrop on Sept. 28, against the league's top-ranked offense.
Big South Conference Attacking Player Of The Week
Amanda Spencer was named the Big South Conference Attacking Player Of The Week on Sept. 16. She posted her first collegiate hat trick with three goals against Elon at the UNCW Courtyard Marriott Wilmington Invitational on Sept. 13, including the game-winner in the 85th minute to lead the Lancers to their first win of the season. Spencer scored her first goal, unassisted, in the 15th minute against the Phoenix and notched her second goal in the 57th minute.
Kelsey Pardue assisted on the second goal, while
Jayden Metzger had the assist on the decisive goal. Spencer was also named the College Sports Madness Women's Soccer Big South Player of the Week.
Big South Network
Longwood is once again streaming live video of select home contests on the Big South Network, the official video provider for all Big South Conference games, and this year, the network's content is free of charge for all viewers. The Lancers are streaming six women's soccer home matches, including upcoming contests against Radford (10.5, 7 p.m.), High Point (10.9, 7 p.m.), Campbell (10.23, 7 p.m.) and Liberty (10.29, 7 p.m.). In addition, four Big South road games will be streamed, including at VMI (10.2, 4 p.m.), Gardner-Webb (10.12, 2 p.m.), Presbyterian (10.16, 7 p.m.) and UNC Asheville (10.26, 2 p.m.). The Big South Network offers both live event streams and an archive of on-demand videos. You can watch all of the
Longwood webcasts and see a complete schedule of upcoming events by visiting
www.longwoodlancers.com or
www.bigsouthsports.com.
No Place Like Home
Longwood is 49-16-4 (.739) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006. The Lancers are 1-1-1 at home this season, after finishing 8-1-1 last season, and are 42-15-3 (.725) in Farmville since attaining its NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.
Recapping the Non-League Games
Longwood played six of eight contests away from Farmville, and three games against top-100 programs among six opponents ranked in the top 175 of this week's NCAA RPI, while working five new starters into the lineup. The Lancers opened 2013 with a 3-2 loss at North Carolina State (No. 56), as
Amanda Spencer scored two second-half goals, her second goal tying the match with just over nine minutes remaining, only to have the host Wolfpack score the game-winner with only 44-seconds on the clock. A pair of double-overtime, scoreless draws followed against Howard and Richmond (No. 173), the UR match also on the road. The Lancers dropped two games in Philadelphia at Saint Joseph's (No. 163, 5-1) and Drexel (No. 135, 1-0), before earning the season's first win, 4-3 against Elon (No. 97) in the UNCW Courtyard Marriott Wilmington Invitational in North Carolina behind three goals from Spencer. A 4-2 setback followed against UNC Wilmington, before a 2-0 loss to James Madison (No. 52) at home completed the opening eight non-conference contests.
2013 Captains
Kelsey Pardue and senior
Chelsea Walter/South Riding are serving as team captains this season, their respective first times in these important team leadership roles.
Youth Being Served
Longwood has 18 true freshmen (8) and sophomores (10) among its 29-member roster, and 14 of them have seen action this season, including eight who have made starts. The Lancers started six first or second year team members in their most recent match.
The Coaching Staff
Head coach
Todd Dyer '93 is in his 20th year leading Longwood and enters this week with a career coaching record of 209-130-24, including 15 winning seasons.
Rich Stoneman is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Lancers.
Up Next Week
Longwood will host High Point on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Athletics Complex in Farmville, before playing on the road at Gardner-Webb on Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
