FARMVILLE, Va. – With more than a third of its roster made up of newcomers, Longwood men's soccer learned much about itself in the preseason. Saturday night in the 2019 season opener against Howard, those lessons were on full display.
 
Behind two goals from Mikel Abando, another from Filip Hinge and a stifling defensive effort from the backfield, the Lancers (1-0-0) ran away to a 3-0 season-opening win over Howard at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
The game was Longwood's first of the 2019 season and followed three preseason friendlies that saw the Lancers tinker, tweak and toy with various formations and combinations. What they settled on against the Bison (0-1-0) produced a dominant performance from whistle to whistle.
 
"Preseason is another rhythm," said Abando, whose 19th-minute goal gave Longwood the lead for good and whose follow-up penalty kick strike in the second half padded it even more.
 
"You have different players who need to adapt to the level, to the quickness of the game. We especially learned how to understand each other more, how to communicate and play together. We did that today – whether it was the starters or off the bench, they knew their job. That's what the result shows."
 
In their 2019 debut, the Lancers showcased a crisp offense that punched three goals past Howard's All-Sun Belt preseason all-conference goalkeeper Carlos Caro. They unveiled a suffocating midfield that controlled the possession battle throughout, and an impermeable backfield that allowed just one shot on goal the entire game.
 
Longwood harassed Caro all night, sending him an onslaught of 17 shots and pinging the ball around Howard's half for the majority of the game. Caro stood up to the pressure with six saves and even saved a penalty kick late in the second half, but Longwood's high-volume approach proved too much for him to stop.
 
The Lancers tested him early and needed just over 18 minutes to break through, doing so when Abando and Ander Etxaniz teamed up for a tight passing sequence on their way into the Howard box, which Abando finished off with a hard-struck right-footed rocket inside the lower left post. That goal gave Longwood the lead for good and set the tone for what became the program's fifth season-opening win in the past six seasons.
 
It was that goal that set the tone for the stifling effort that followed.
 
"We were looking for an early goal and trying to press up to get it," said Abando. "That early goal always gives you that point of confidence, and we were able to build off that as the game went on."
 
The Lancers controlled possession throughout the game, owning the midfield to maintain pressure of Howard's back line. Longwood's backfield, led by a 79-minute effort from sophomore defender Jonas Kalchner, did not allow a shot on goal until the 71st minute of the game.
 
Lancer goalkeeper Jacob Reimers was the orchestrator to that performance and earned his third career shutout, sharing it with freshman keeper Jeff Gates, who played the final 7:08 of the game.
 
"It's nice to go into preseason with a squad this size and this deep, so our challenge has been to find the right combination of guys who are all jockeying for positions," head coach Jon Atkinson said. "We've started to see guys who lead the lines well and some great supporting casts. The squad has good, capable guys who can come off the bench and give quality minutes, and you saw that tonight."
 
Atkinson deployed nearly his entire bench and sent 26 players onto the field before the final whistle, including the freshman Hinge whose 55th-minute goal put Longwood on top 3-0. That was the first career goal for the newcomer and came in just 25 minutes of field time.
 
The victory improved Longwood to 5-0-1 in season openers since 2014.

 "It's excellent to get a result and get the season rolling," Atkinson said. "It's definitely a confidence builder, and we know there's a lot to be done, but we can go into the season with a positive mindset. We'll go look at the video and improve. Howard is a far improved team, and the challenges aren't going to get any easier."
 
Longwood will face one of their biggest challenges this Friday, Sept. 6, when they head to Raleigh, N.C., t take on ACC foe NC State. That precedes a return trip back home to the Athletics Complex where Longwood will host Commonwealth rival VMI the following Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.
 
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