FARMVILLE, Va. – If each team's season is its own narrative, then the chapter Longwood women's soccer wrote in Saturday's 2-0 win over UNC Asheville may turn out to be allegorical of their 2016 story as a whole.
After struggling to find a rhythm in the first half Saturday, the Lancers (6-8-1, 3-2-1 Big South) erupted for two goals in a dominant second half against the visiting Bulldogs (7-10-0, 2-5-0 Big South) to continue their climb in the Big South standings.
Janese Quick was Longwood's latest hero, driving home the game-winner on a free kick in the 59th minute before
Amanda Spencer added an insurance goal in the 83rd minute to back a one-save clean sheet for
Maria Kirby that was her fifth of the season.
That post-halftime rally was emblematic of the team's progress this season, extending a second-half surge that has seen Longwood overcome a 2-6 start with four wins over their past seven games. And just as the tide turned at halftime for the Lancers Saturday, they have ridden a similar wave into the second half of the season.
Since a narrow 1-0 loss at No. 17 Virginia Tech on Sept. 13, the Lancers are 4-2-1 with their two losses during that span coming by just one goal. They have outscored their seven opponents 12-4 during that span while racking up four shutouts, including Saturday's shutout in which they held UNC Asheville to just one shot on goal.
"Early in the year we were all adjusting, and I think we really started to figure it out against Virginia Tech," said sophomore midfielder
Annie Boros, a transfer from Stony Brook who is one of nine newcomers on this year's squad. "That was our best defensive performance as a team, and from there, we just got better. We started connecting really well, from the back to the middle, from the middle to the front."
That connectivity was on display in the second half against UNC Asheville (7-10-0, 2-5-0 Big South), as the Lancers outshot the Bulldogs 5-1 on goal over the final 45 minutes and broke through on Quick and Spencer's goals to vault themselves into fifth place in the Big South standings.
"We came out in the first half, we couldn't pass, UNC Asheville was beating us to balls," Boros said. "We came together at halftime and said if we really want to win this, we have to step it up. We did; we moved off the ball, we connected, and that's how we got our goals."
Those goals changed the narrative for Longwood after UNC Asheville controlled possession for the first 30 minutes of the game, only to give way to an inspired Lancer team late in the first half. Longwood took over and hammered four shots at Dixon in the final 10 minutes before halftime, setting the stage for an early second-half barrage that eventually yielded a free kick from just outside the box that Quick drove in for her third goal of the year.
"That was a very organized and motivated UNC Asheville team that clearly outplayed us the first 30 minutes of the game," said Longwood head coach
Todd Dyer. "We built a little bit of momentum right before the half, but we definitely had to make some adjustments and come out with a better response in the second half. Fortunately that was exactly what we did, and we were able to play more soccer in the front half of the field, create some chances and score a couple of goals to finish off the game."
The win improves Longwood to 5-2 on their home field with all five of those wins coming in succession. It marked the team's fourth consecutive multi-goal outing in Farmville, an advantageous streak the Lancers look to extend as they make a push for a top-four Big South finish and a home site matchup in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
And if Saturday's win is any indication, Longwood's story won't end there.
"I feel like our chemistry isn't quite at its peak, but it's almost there," Boros said. "Even though we're playing really well together right now, we can still get better."
Longwood's next chapter takes place this Wednesday, Oct. 19, at third-place Campbell (9-6, 4-2 Big South), who leads the Lancers by just one point in the Big South standings.
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