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FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood has completed the non-conference portion of the schedule and will begin Big South Conference action this week, starting with a home match against
Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night, September 25 at 7 p.m. at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. The Lancers (1-5-2) have played six of eight contests away from Farmville, and two games against top-47 programs among four opponents ranked in the top 150 of this week's NCAA RPI, while working five new starters into the lineup. Longwood will also play this weekend at
Winthrop on Saturday, Sept. 28, in Rock Hill, South Carolina at 1 p.m.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
"Believe it or not, morale is very high right now as we head into conference play. We just finished our toughest non-conference schedule in the 20 years of our program against teams from the ACC, CAA, A10 and Southern Conference, with six of those games played on the road. I'm certain we're battle tested, having faced that level of competition, and now it's just a matter of applying what we've learned as we transition into conference play. Though we seem to have paid our dues, we know that nothing will be given to us. We're eager to move forward and 'earn it' for 90 minutes every time we step on the field against our peers in the Big South."
Recapping the Non-League Games
Longwood opened 2013 with a 3-2 loss at North Carolina State (No. 47), as freshman
Amanda Spencer/Gibsonia, Pennsylvania 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 (5-1) and Drexel (No. 116, 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, before a 2-0 loss to James Madison (No. 43) at home completed the opening eight non-conference contests.
Leading The Lancers
Amanda Spencer leads Longwood in scoring through eight matches with five goals totaling 10 points. Freshman
Gina D'Orazio/Moseley adds one goal and three assists for five points. Junior
Samantha Phillips/Chesapeake, along with sophomores
Olivia Colella/Herndon and
Alana Mackey/Leesburg each add one goal and two points. Senior
Kelsey Pardue/Richmond and freshman
Jayden Metzger/Midlothian each have contributed one assist for one point. Graduate
Shelby Hall/Purcellville has played 738 minutes in front of the net, while allowing 16 goals (1.95) with 33 saves (.673) on 112 shots with two shutouts. Sophomore
Hailey Machen/Fairfax has played 22 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. 22,
Amanda Spencer ranked 86th in Division I goals (5) and goals per game (0.625), 158th in points per game (1.25) and 173rd in points (10).
Gina D'Orazio ranked 135th in Division I assists (3) and 146th in assists per game (0.38).
Shelby Hall ranked 154th in Division I saves (33) and 164th in saves per game (4.13). In the Big South, Longwood ranked fourth in shots (106) and tied for fourth in saves (36) and shutouts (2). Spencer is tied for second in goals and tied for fourth in points. D'Orazio is tied for second in assists.
Kelsey Pardue is third in shots (24). Hall is tied for third in shutouts and tied for sixth in saves.
Samantha Phillips is tied for sixth in shots (20).
In The Record Book
Kelsey Pardue ranks in a tie for second in career assists (20), and is third in career shots (160). The four-year starter (66-straight matches) has career totals of 16 goals, including nine game-winners, and 20 assists for 52 points.
Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week
Shelby Hall was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week on Sept. 3. 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.
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 will be streaming six women's soccer home matches, including upcoming contests against Coastal Carolina (9.25, 7 p.m.), 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 48-16-4 (.735) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006. The Lancers are 0-1-1 at home this season, after finishing 8-1-1 last season, and are 41-15-3 (.720) in Farmville since attaining its NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.
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 13 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 207-130-24, including 15 winning seasons.
Rich Stoneman is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Lancers.
Up Next Week
Longwood plays a pair of in-state opponents, including on the road at VMI on Oct. 2 at 4 p.m. in Lexington, before returning home to the Athletics Complex in Farmville to host Radford on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.
