Box Score LYNCHBURG, Va.—Crystal Elmers broke a scoreless deadlock and upended a tremendous Longwood effort with only 37 seconds remaining to send Liberty to a 1-0 victory Tuesday in Lynchburg.

Elmers took the ball and dribbled the length of the field before firing the game winner into the top left corner. Longwood (8-8-3, 3-5-2) now resorts to waiting with bated breath on its Big South tournament chances.

The Lancers played stride for stride with the top team in the Big South for the full 90 minutes, executing the gameplan to perfection. In the end, a mere matter of moments sent the Lancers tumbling to a heartbreaking defeat.

"Absolute heartbreak," said head coach Todd Dyer. "Our girls played as hard as a team could play and it just wasn't enough today. Against good teams it comes down to inches and seconds. In the end we were just on the wrong side of that very fine line. It's tough to lose at the end like that and there's nothing I can say as a coach to make our girls feel differently."

Tuesday's game was as close as they come and had all the makings of a postseason showdown. For Longwood, the contest was a defacto playoff game; win and the Lancers were in. Longwood was out shot by Liberty 6-4 in the first half, but put more shots on net than the Flames, claiming a 3-2 edge. Liberty flipped that margin, placing six shots on net to Longwood's one in the second half, including Elmers' game winner at 89:23.

Goalkeeper Hailey Machen recorded a career-high 7 saves in the loss. Machen bested her previous high of six saves which she notched on two occasions this season, most recently against UNC Asheville on Oct. 25.

Longwood will now wait to discover their postseason fate later this evening. A draw or defeat of either UNC Asheville or Winthrop will place Longwood into the Big South Championships. Whether or not the Lancers advance, coach Dyer knows what awaits his squad.

"As we've done all season," said Dyer, "this group will always get back up and respond in a positive way."