FARMVILLE, Va. – In their first three games, Longwood men's soccer found goals hard to come by. Saturday night against reigning Patriot League champion American, they made up for lost time.
In their biggest offensive outburst since a 3-1 win against VMI on March 10 this past season, Longwood (1-2-1) tripled its scoring output in one night to battle Patriot powerhouse American to a 3-3 draw at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
Entering the game with just one goal on the season – which was
Leif VanSlyke's SportsCenter Top 10 game-winner against VMI on Aug. 31 – Longwood's offense rounded into form in their return to Farmville and used an aggressive, high-volume approach to match the Patriot League's preseason No. 2 squad goal-for-goal in a 110-minute slugfest. Senior
Markus Gronli scored two of those for his first career multi-goal game, while graduate student
Josh Fordyce knocked in another and three different Lancers assisted on each of those strikes.
However, American (1-2-1) countered with goals from Nevin Baer, Ethan Boyle and Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year David Coly to force overtime, and both teams survived multiple scoring chances in extra time to settle for a draw.
"This had the feeling of a coming of age game where we finally showed what we are capable of with the ball," said Longwood head coach
Jon Atkinson. "American are a caliber team, and you could see their abilities throughout the game. But I think we deserved that one and can count ourselves a tad unfortunate not to get all the spoils."
From Baer's opening strike in the 22nd minute to Coly's penalty-kick equalizer in the 83rd minute, the non-conference contest featured a relentless back-and-forth in which the lead changed hands multiple times, though no team maintained the advantage for more than 15 consecutive minutes. Longwood was on top for a combined 27 minutes and, with a 3-2 lead following Gronli's second goal midway through the second half, was less than eight minutes away from victory. However, Coly drew a foul in Longwood's box at the 82:52 mark and then beat Lancer senior goalkeeper
Jacob Reimers on the ensuing penalty kick to tie the game at 3-3.
All three of Longwood's goals featured different assisting players, with
Ben Wilkinson dishing a crisp pass into the box to set up Gronli for the team's first strike,
Mason Butcher sending a rebound of his own shot to Fordyce for goal number two, and VanSlyke setting up Gronli for another go-ahead goal in the 70th minute.
Chances for both teams continued well past regulation, but Reimers and American goalkeeper Lorenzo Gordon held steady, both hauling in two saves apiece in the second overtime period. VanSlyke and Gronli, who have now combined for three of Longwood's four goals this season, both got looks on goal in the final period, but Gordon corralled both shots to preserve the lead.
"I couldn't be prouder of the commitment we showed," Atkinson said. "We trained well all week, and this translated to the game. I think we caught American off guard a bit, and overall I still feel we have a ways to go to play a complete 90. However, it's still early in season, and we did show ample amounts of effort and character which we can bag up and move to the next game. The home fans were incredible – we had a packed stand – and I think they will be going home proud of their boys tonight."
The draw begins a two-game unbeaten streak at home for the Lancers, who have now outshot their first four foes 73-46 on the season.
Saturday's home game will be Longwood's last in Farmville for nearly two weeks, however, as the Lancers next head north to face Navy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, and then take a trip to the North Carolina coast to take on UNC Wilmington on Sept. 18. Those games will be the final non-conference bouts before Longwood begins Big South play at home against UNC Asheville on Sept. 25.
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