FARMVILLE, Va. – On the eve of Longwood's high-stakes showdown against first-place Liberty, senior captain
Teresa Fruchterman shared a message with her team.
"Big-time players make big-time plays in games like these."
It turns out she was calling her own shot.
Fruchterman scored her first goal of the season in the 18th minute, jumpstarting a one-sided rout of the last remaining unbeaten team in the conference as Longwood (11-4-2, 6-1-1 Big South) dominated Liberty 3-0 Wednesday evening to ascend to first place in the Big South standings.
The win moves the Lancers into a three-way tie for the league's top spot, putting them alongside Liberty (8-6-3, 6-1-1 Big South) and High Point (9-7-1, 6-1-1 Big South) with just one game remaining before the beginning of the 2017 Big South Women's Soccer Championship tournament.
Now owners of the conference's longest unbeaten streak at seven games, the Lancers stand just one win away from securing at least a share of their first Big South Regular Season Championship in program history. That last test comes this Saturday at Gardner-Webb where a win would guarantee Longwood at least a top-three seed in the conference tournament.
Longwood has all the momentum heading into the season finale, having strung together back-to-back three-goal games for the first time this season. Wednesday night, it was Fruchterman and fellow forwards
Emilie Kupsov and
Sheyenne Stretz who provided the goals that snapped Liberty's seven-game unbeaten streak.
"Our whole team was flying," said Fruchterman, who also dished an assist on Kupsov's second-half goal. "It started in the locker room. Our energy on the bench was awesome. I'm so proud to be a part of this team."
Wednesday night's game was equal parts heavyweight slugfest, rivalry showdown and Senior Night tear-jerker, and the game lived up to the billing on all fronts.
Longwood outshot Liberty 9-6 on goal but needed some late-game heroics from senior goalkeeper
Maria Kirby, who made back-to-back saves at point blank range in a span of 78 seconds near the 80-minute mark. Those attempts – both by Liberty senior and Big South game-winning goals leader Isabella Habuda – came with Longwood nursing a 2-0 lead built by Fruchterman's first-half goal and Kupsov's 59th-minute strike.
Stretz rewarded her goalkeeper with an insurance goal a few minutes later, padding the win by finishing off a corner kick from
Janese Quick and the ensuing pass through traffic from freshman
Carrie Reaver.
"We have so much respect for Liberty, so getting up for this game was not going to be a problem," said Longwood head coach
Todd Dyer. "The challenge was going to be controlling our emotions on senior day and focusing on the task at hand. We did that, and I think both teams did their part in providing a very entertaining game."
The aforementioned senior celebration was in honor of the quartet of Fruchterman, Kirby, Quick and
Jenna Tomayko, who all contributed significantly to the win. Quick assisted on two goals, Fruchterman was involved in two of her own, Kirby registered the program's Division I-record 25th shutout of her career, and Tomayko played a crucial role in establishing Longwood's stifling presence in the midfield.
"I think all four of our seniors will feel good about that performance on their big day," said Longwood head coach
Todd Dyer. "And it's even more fitting and deserving that they all played so well."
Longwood's jump to the top of the Big South leaderboard Wednesday has added meaning for that class, which endured a freshman season in which they – thanks to a season-ending defeat at Liberty – didn't even qualify for the Big South postseason. Said Fruchterman, the four-year climb those four have experienced since 2014 is no accident.
"We're reading a book called 'Pound the Stone,' and one of the lines is 'focus on the process, not the outcome,'" Fruchterman said. "Especially with us four seniors, we've all been through battles. Most of us didn't play most of freshman year, and I've been out with injuries. We didn't make the tournament as freshmen. But we've persevered, trusted the process, trusted our coaches, and it's showing now."
Now the Lancers are guaranteed to host their quarterfinal matchup in the Big South Championship, which will take place at the Longwood Athletics Complex next Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. Longwood's seeding and opponent will come down to the final game of the regular season Saturday at Gardner-Webb.
"We want to give credit and thank our supporters who were out in full force tonight to create and incredible soccer atmosphere," Dyer said. "We'll enjoy this result until tomorrow morning and then jump right in to our preparation for the trip to Gardner-Webb on Saturday."
#GoWood
