ONLINE TEAM GUIDE / BIG SOUTH WEEKLY RELEASE (PDF)
LONGWOOD LIVE STATS / LONGWOOD LIVE VIDEO
GARDNER-WEBB LIVE STATS / GARDNER-WEBB LIVE VIDEO
FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood continues Big South Conference action this week with a home match against
High Point University on Wednesday, October 9 at 7 p.m. in Farmville, before traveling to
Gardner-Webb University on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. The contest against High Point has been designated a LancerStrong contest, as all student-athletes are required to attend on Wednesday night. The Lancers are 4-6-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big South after splitting a pair of conference games this past week, including a 3-0 road win at in-state opponent VMI on Oct. 2 and a hard-fought 1-0 home setback to in-state rival Radford University on Oct. 5.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
"We're pleased with the result we earned at VMI because that's always a very tough place to play. The early goal helped open up the game and allowed us to score those other two goals. We were also able to get a lot of our players on the field. That's always a boost for morale and gives us an opportunity to evaluate some of our players further under game conditions.
"Radford was a tough one and we knew it would be. The goal we conceded isn't something you see every day and it was a tough pill to swallow after fighting so hard for so long and really playing an even game against the defending champs. In the end, we defended well, created our chances and just weren't able to capitalize. If we're fortunate enough to face them again this season, I think this loss helps us.
"High Point will be as big of a challenge as our last game, so we'll have to put in a full 90 minute effort to get something positive from that game. And then we're on the road again Saturday at Gardner-Webb where our team has never played, so there's a bit of the unknown we'll have to deal with. We're in the thick of conference play, they're all hard, so we just need to stay focused and deal with things one at a time."
Series History
Longwood is 1-6-2 all-time against High Point since first meeting in 1995, including a 2-0 setback in North Carolina last season. The Lancers' only win in the series was a 3-0 home victory during 1997 when both programs were members of NCAA Division II. Longwood is 2-1 all-time against Gardner-Webb since first meeting in 1994, including a 2-0 home win last season, the first meeting between the Lancers and Bulldogs since 1998.
Leading The Lancers / Season Statistics
Freshman
Amanda Spencer/Gibsonia, Pennsylvania continues to lead Longwood in scoring through 12 matches with six goals and one assist totaling 13 points. Senior
Kelsey Pardue/Richmond (three goals, one assist) and freshman
Gina D'Orazio/Moseley (two goals, three assists) each add seven points. Junior
Kelsey McDonald/Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and sophomore
Olivia Colella/Herndon each add one goal and one assist for three points. Junior
Samantha Phillips/Chesapeake and sophomore
Alana Mackey/Leesburg each have one goal for two points. Freshman
Jayden Metzger/Midlothian has contributed one assist for one point. Graduate student
Shelby Hall/Purcellville has played 1,113-plus minutes in front of the net, while allowing 17 goals (1.37) with 48 saves (.738) on 146 shots with five 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.
Defense Doing The Job
Longwood has allowed just one goal (0.24) while posting three shutouts in four Big South contests this fall covering 375 minutes.
Shelby Hall has been ably aided by the stingy starting backline of seniors
Taylor Cave/Virginia Beach and
Chelsea Walter/South Riding, along with sophomores
Katie Beebe/Round Hill and
Meghan Magee/Virginia Beach.
NCAA/Big South Statistics
Through Oct. 6, Longwood ranked 77th in Division I shutout percentage (.417).
Amanda Spencer ranked 104th in Division I goals (6), 119th in goals per game (0.50), 171st in points (13).
Shelby Hall ranked 139th in Division I saves (48). In the Big South, Longwood is fourth in shutouts (5) and sixth in shots (164). Spencer is tied for second in goals and game-winning goals (2), tied for fourth in points and goals per game, and ninth in points per game (1.08). Hall is second in shutouts, third in shutouts per game (0.42), sixth in saves, eighth in goals against average, and 10th in save percentage and saves per game (4.00).
Kelsey Pardue is fifth in shots (33) and shots per game (2.75).
Gina D'Orazio is tied for sixth in assists.
Success In The Big South
Longwood is 11-3-1 (.767) in 15 Big South regular season matches since becoming the league's 12th member prior to the 2012 season. The Lancers are 23-11-4 (.658) against Big South opponents since attaining its 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 (168), and sixth in goals (19) and points (58). The four-year starter has been on the field to begin 70-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 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 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 49-17-4 (.729) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006. The Lancers are an uncharacteristic 1-2-1 at home this season, after finishing 8-1-1 last season, and are 42-16-3 (.713) 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, while working five new starters into the lineup. The Lancers opened 2013 with a 3-2 loss at North Carolina State (No. 66 in this week's NCAA RPI), 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, the UR match also on the road. The Lancers dropped two games in Philadelphia at Saint Joseph's (No. 185, 5-1) and Drexel (No. 124, 1-0), before earning the season's first win, 4-3 against Elon (No. 129) in the UNCW Courtyard Marriott Wilmington Invitational in North Carolina behind three goals from Spencer. A 4-2 setback followed against UNC Wilmington (No. 183), before a 2-0 loss to James Madison (No. 46) at home completed the opening eight non-conference contests.
2013 Captains
Kelsey Pardue and
Chelsea Walter 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 15 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 210-131-24, including 15 winning seasons.
Rich Stoneman is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Lancers.
Up Next Week
Longwood will play on the road at Presbyterian College on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. in Clinton, South Carolina, before playing at home against Charleston Southern University on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. The contest against Charleston Southern is part of the
Wounded Warrior Weekend at Longwood, as events will include the LW3 Benefit Soccer Game on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Athletics Complex, a Memorial 5K Walk/Run on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. on the High Bridge Trail along with the CSU match that will feature the Longwood ROTC program presenting the colors before the game and a special halftime recognition of the Wounded Warriors and their families in attendance.
