ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Longwood entered Saturday's Big South showdown at UNC Asheville one win away from securing a spot in the Big South Championship tournament.
 
It took 102 minutes, but the Lancers are now postseason bound.
 
Junior forward Kennedy Culbreath drove home the golden goal on a feed from senior Taylor Alvey to lift the Lancers (6-7-1, 4-3-1 Big South) to a 2-1 double-overtime road victory over the Bulldogs (4-12, 2-6 Big South) Saturday morning at Greenwood Soccer Field.
 
Culbreath's game-winner was her team-leading sixth goal of the season and put to rest a wild back-and-forth contest that featured a combined 44 shots from both teams, a heroic performance in goal from Asheville keeper Courtney O'Malley, and a dramatic overtime in which Longwood came up empty on a penalty kick and followed up by hitting the post.
 
"That was one of the craziest games I've ever been a part of," said Todd Dyer, now in his 26th year as Longwood's head coach.
 
"It started off well with us getting the early goal, but Asheville was a constant threat in the counter attack. The goal we conceded off our own goal kick is something you see in blooper reels, but we managed to compose ourselves and continue controlling the game and creating a ton of chances."
 
Culbreath and senior Emilie Kupsov spearheaded Longwood's offensive onslaught, combining for 21 of the team's 33 shots. Kupsov took a career-high 12 of those, including an overtime penalty kick that O'Malley saved and a follow-up rebound shot that careened off the post right to O'Malley.
 
It was Culbreath who finally broke through to end Longwood's 96-minute scoring drought just as the clock hit 102 minutes. She received a feed from Alvey and stuck it into the lower right corner just past O'Malley for her team-leading third game-winner of the season.
 
The goal overcame a game-changing performance in goal from O'Malley, who surrendered a go-ahead goal to Longwood junior Madison Lockamy in the sixth minute but responded by saving 11 consecutive shots until Culbreath's golden goal.
 
"The save on Kup's penalty in OT and then her shot that bounced off the post straight to the goalkeeper sure looked like it wasn't going to be our day," Dyer said. "But then Kennedy stepped up with the goal to win, and collectively we persevered. That gets us into the postseason with two games left, so now it's just a matter of seeding. We're excited for what lies ahead."
 
The victory maintains Longwood's top-six position in the Big South standings and secures one of eight spots in the Big South Championship bracket for Longwood. Meanwhile UNC Asheville dropped into ninth place and sits just outside the eight-team Big South postseason bubble.
 
Longwood's backfield held its own in the defensive struggle as well, limiting the Bulldogs to just six shots on goal, of which junior keeper Madison Van Dyke saved five.  
 
The Lancers are now down to their final two regular-season games before the start of the 2019 Big South Championship. The first of those will take place on Longwood's home field against rival High Point this Wednesday, Oct. 23, and the finale will send the Lancers to Gardner-Webb on Oct. 26.
 
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