With Longwood (7-5-2 ,3-1-2 Big South) trailing the Blue Hose 1-0 early in the first half, Spencer scored her fourth goal of the season in the 24th minute to spark a string of three straight Lancer goals. Colella, who assisted Spencer on the equalizer, put Longwood ahead for good in the 68th minute, and
Bridget Bergquist added what proved to be the game-winner in the 77th minute on an assist from Spencer.
Sophie Cobb put Presbyterian (6-8-0, 2-4-0) back on the board with under three minutes to play, but Longwood's defense held the Blue Hose without a shot the rest of the way to extend the Lancers' unbeaten streak to four games.
"We went down a goal on the road and responded with three straight goals, and in the end that was enough to earn the result," said Longwood head coach
Todd Dyer. "It got a little dicey there at the end as we were rotating players in and out of the game, but we learned some valuable lessons and can apply it to future games in terms of game management."
During their four-game tear, the Lancers have battled conference foes Winthrop and Gardner-Webb to draws on the road and shut out Radford 2-0 at home. Longwood has now collected points in six of the past seven games and maintains a firm hold on fifth place in the Big South standings.
"We just started the second half of our league schedule with three points on the road," said Dyer, who has led Longwood to top-three conference finishes in two of the program's three years in the Big South. "Hopefully we can build on that momentum going into our last four games, starting with Charleston Southern on Saturday."
Key to Longwood's success through the midway point of the conference season has been defense, and that unit was on display Wednesday at Presbyterian. Though both goals, Longwood held the Blue Hose just two shots on goal for the entire 90-minute affair. That effort was again anchored by the senior starting defensive trio of
Alana Mackey,
Jessica O'Bryant and
Haylea Witz, who paired with freshman and fellow starter
Sydney Wallace to make up the core a defensive rotation that held Presbyterian to its average of 2.00 goals per game, which ranks second in the Big South.
The Lancers employed a bench-clearing rotation on both ends of the field, using a season-high 22 players, including senior defender
Katie Beebe who made her return from an ankle injury that forced her to miss Longwood's past two games.
Longwood will conclude a three-game road swing this Saturday, Oct. 17, at Charleston Southern, before returning to the Longwood Athletics Complex to host Campbell at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21.
