BOX SCORE
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a 1-0 preseason women's soccer exhibition match to visiting Appalachian State of the Southern Conference on Saturday at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Samantha Childress scored on a free kick in the 58th minute for the Mountaineers, and keeper Megan Roberson earned the shutout in front of the net. Longwood will play its first regular season match on Sunday, August 25 at 7 p.m. on the road at North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference in Raleigh.
Longwood opened the match very aggressively on offense and quickly took a 4-1 advantage in shots over the first 13-plus minutes, but only the fourth attempt by junior Kelsey McDonald/Kennett Square, Pennsylvania was on target and stopped by Roberson. Appalachian State had three-straight attempts in the 16th minute with the first two hitting the post and crossbar, respectively, before graduate keeper Shelby Hall/Purcellville saved the third shot by Childress, as it was 0-0 at the intermission.
Appalachian State scored the lone goal of the contest at 57:58 when a foul against the Lancers resulted in the free kick by Childress from approximately 25 yards straight away. She promptly placed the left-footed kick to the upper left corner of the net just past the outstretched arms of Hall. Each team managed just two more shot attempts with Hall stopping both by the Mountaineers, while each attempt by Longwood was high, the last in the 87th minute.
"We knew this was a good measuring stick and a good opportunity to play against someone else and see where we're at," said 20th-year head coach Todd Dyer '93. "I thought in the first half we created pieces and if we score an early goal, maybe the whole flow and maybe the result of the game changes, but it just didn't go that way for us. In the second half, the first 10 minutes got away from us … I thought Appalachian State took the initiative and just kept pushing us back, and eventually we conceded a set piece and they scored off it and that was the difference in the game.
"We did not score a goal but we have a good idea of where we're at right now and what we need to work on as we move forward."
Appalachian State had a 10-6 advantage in shots, including 6-1 in attempts on goal, and it was an 8-5 edge on corner kicks. Childress had four shots, two on goal, for the Mountaineers, while Roberson played the duration in front of the net with one save.
McDonald and senior Kelsey Pardue/Richmond each had two shots for Longwood, though McDonald had the only attempt on goal. Hall also played the duration in front of the net for the Lancers with five saves.
