Box Score (HTML) FARMVILLE, Va. – In a clash of the Big South's top scoring offense and one of the league's stingiest defenses, Longwood shut out Big South scoring leader UNC Asheville 1-0 Saturday afternoon at Greenwood Field to stay within one point of hosting the first round of the Big South Championship.
Against a UNC Asheville team that entered the night averaging a conference-best 1.94 goals per game, the Lancers (9-6-2, 5-2-2 Big South) held the Bulldogs to just one shot on goal for the entire 90-minute affair. The shutout was the ninth of the season for Longwood, which remains just one point behind High Point for fourth place in the Big South standings entering Tuesday's regular season finale against Liberty.
"It was a tight game against a tough team, but we were able to grind out a result and earn another shutout," said Dyer, whose Lancers are on the verge of their third 10-win season in the past six years.
"We finished conference play undefeated on the road, and that shows a lot about the character of this team. Now we need to show that same determination at home against Liberty Tuesday."
The Bulldogs (11-7-0, 4-5-0 Big South) have scored a conference-best 33 goals on the year but managed just four shots against a Longwood defense that was without the services of top defender
Alana Mackey for all but 16 minutes of the game. Despite Mackey's absence, the Lancers picked up their fifth Big South shutout to punctuate an unbeaten 3-0-2 conference road record. Longwood concludes its regular season road gauntlet with three straight wins en route to a 4-1-1 record in October and a chance to finish among the conference's top four with an automatic first-round hosting bid for the Big South Tournament.
Longwood's most recent push in its postseason surge came on the strength of a game-winning goal from senior
Bridget Bergquist, who found the back of the UNC Asheville net in the 23rd minute for her second game-winner of the season. Bergquist's goal, sparked by an assist from sophomore
Janese Quick, provided all the support the Lancer defense needed to preserve the win.
Following Bergquist's first-half goal, the
Haylea Witz-led Lancer backfield allowed UNC Asheville just three more shots the rest of the way. Witz, along with the help of fellow senior
Meghan Magee who played all 90 minutes on the back line in Mackey's absence, commanded another stifling defensive effort that led to sophomore goalkeeper
Maria Kirby's seventh shutout of the year, the second most in the Big South.
Now with just one conference game upcoming Tuesday against rival Liberty, Longwood trails High Point (10-3-4, 5-2-1 Big South) by one point for fourth place in the Big South standings. The top four teams in the conference are guaranteed host the first four games of the Big South Tournament, which currently stands as Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Campbell and High Point.
Longwood's final chance to crack that top four kicks off Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Longwood Athletics Complex. The in-state matchup will air on the Big South Network and serve as Senior Night for Longwood's nine-member senior class.
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