YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown state midfielder Sophie McFarland engineered back-to-back goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to lift the Penguins to a late 3-1 win over Longwood Sunday afternoon at Farmers National Bank Stadium.
Nearing the end of regulation in a game that was deadlocked at 1-1 since the 18-minute mark, McFarland set up fellow midfielder Ernestina Abambila for the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute and then found Madison Hughes for an insurance goal eight minutes later for her second assist of the day.
The game-winner was the second goal of the day for Abambila, who has accounted for a team-high four of Youngstown State's nine goals this season. Her first goal Sunday tied the game at 1-1 just 17:45 into the first half when she sank a cross from Kathy Baquero, erasing a 1-0 Longwood that the Lancers took on senior
Christina Corbin's second goal of the season. Longwood held that lead for just 1:01, giving it up for good after Abambila's equalizer.
"We have a long way to go as a team," said Longwood's 23rd-year head coach
Todd Dyer, whose Lancers have lost four of their first five games since their first year as a Division I program in 2007.
"We continue to find ways to beat ourselves, and our level of opposition is always going to take advantage of that. All we can do is own up to where we stand right now and figure out a way to be better on both sides of the ball."
The loss derailed the momentum Longwood (1-4-0) built from Friday's 2-1 upset over reigning Atlantic 10 champion Duquesne. Lancer goalkeeper
Maria Kirby amassed 11 saves that night to help Longwood survive 12 Duquesne shots, but she could not repeat that performance Sunday against a Youngstown State team that scored three goals for the second straight game.
Like Longwood Friday, the Penguins were the beneficiaries of lockdown goalkeeping, getting six saves from keeper Katie Montgomery to fend off seven Lancer shots on goal. Longwood won the shots and shots-on-goal battles, but Youngstown State bounced back from its 4-3 loss to Fort Wayne Friday thanks to a reversal of fortune on the defensive end Sunday.
Longwood non-conference gauntlet gets no easier next week as the Lancers conclude a stretch of four straight road games Thursday at American before returning home for a Sunday showdown against UMBC.
#GoWood
