FARMVILLE, Va. – In a season that has seen as many heroes as Longwood has wins, Emilie Kupsov took another turn in the spotlight Wednesday.
Looking for her first goal since the overtime game-winner in a 2-1 win at Marshall on Aug. 27, the Longwood sophomore forward delivered that and more to help the Lancers (7-4-2, 2-1-1 Big South) battle first-place Campbell to a 2-2 double-overtime draw at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
Matching up against the top scoring offense in the Big South, Kupsov scored the first goal of the night just 27 seconds into the second half and then set up the equalizer with an assist to junior Sheyenne Stretz in the 81st minute. The performance marked Kupsov's first career game with a goal and an assist and increased her team-leading point total to eight on the season.
Those two Kupsov-driven goals came as part of a furious second half in which Longwood and Campbell (7-4-1, 3-0-1 Big South) went blow-for-blow, trading the lead twice before Stretz's right-footed rocket deflected off the hands of a diving Erin Scott and arced behind her into the Campbell goal with 9:24 to play. That game-tying goal erased the 2-1 lead the Fighting Camels took after Abby Major and Anne Brantley scored back-to-back in a span of just over six minutes in response to Kupsov's quick strike out of the half.
"That was a combative, competitive, high-level Big South soccer match," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer, whose Lancers snapped Campbell's three-game win streak with the draw. "We are not satisfied with the result, but we're proud of the effort against a top team. Going up a goal, losing that lead, and then coming from behind to tie the match shows a lot of character in this group."
The double-overtime draw was a fitting end to a showdown that pitted the Big South's top scoring team against the conference's stingiest defensive team, as Campbell entered the game with a conference-leading 2.64 goals per game compared to Longwood's Big South-best 0.56 goals against average. Campbell became only the second team this season to score multiple goals against Longwood, while the Lancers joined Western Carolina as the only teams to overcome a Campbell lead this season.
Longwood ended Campbell's Big South win streak thanks to Kupsov but also Stretz, who delivered a game-saving goal for the second straight game. Just four days after scoring the overtime game-winner in this past Saturday's 1-0 win at Presbyterian, Stretz came through off the bench once more Wednesday and took over the team lead with three goals on the year.
"It was the greatest feeling," sophomore defender
Taylor Alvey said of Stretz' late goal. "Shy's a great player, and she always knows how to find the back of the net. Once she got the ball, I had a feeling she was going to score. I jumped in the air, I was so excited. I think we all did."
While Kupsov and Stretz earned the goal-scoring glory – also with the help of midfielder
Kelly Almeida, whose long-range passes to Kupsov sparked both plays – Longwood leaned on its defensive backfield to keep the NCAA's No. 6 scoring offense in check. Campbell, led by the NCAA's No. 2 goal scorer Alexa Genas, managed just six shots on goal – compared to seven for Longwood – thanks to the backfield play of Alvey,
Carrie Reaver and
Sydney Wallace, and the goalkeeping of senior
Maria Kirby.
Those four played all 110 minutes of the shutout, as did holding midfielder
Janese Quick, and shut out Genas after she entered the game with eight goals in her past three games.
"We knew coming in that we're a great team," said Alvey. "We know how to pass the ball, we know how to play; it's just a matter of how we play that day. Campbell's a great team. They put up a great fight, and overall it was a great game.
"[A draw against Campbell] means a lot. They're definitely going to be one of the top teams in the Big South, so if we can come out with a draw against them now, that says a lot. I hope we see them again and get another chance."
Longwood and Campbell now occupy two of the top five spots in the Big South standings. Campbell sits in a three-way tie for first place alongside High Point and Liberty, while Longwood and Charleston Southern are deadlocked in a tie for fourth.
"We're in the thick of things, so it's just a matter of focusing on each game in front of us," Dyer said.
That next game will pit Longwood against its fellow fourth-place team, Charleston Southern, this Saturday, Oct. 7, in Charleston, S.C.
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