WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Anchored by their fourth shutout of the season and a game-winning goal by Catharine Forst, Longwood women's soccer remained unbeaten in the Big South with a 1-0 road takedown of conference rival Hampton Tuesday night at Wanner Stadium.
 
The win was Longwood's second straight and continued a four-game unbeaten streak that began when the Lancers (3-5-4, 2-0-2 Big South) opened Big South play on Sept. 18. Since that opener 10 days ago, the Lancers have battled Winthrop and Radford to back-to-back draws and edged out Presbyterian and Hampton on the road in consecutive one-goal wins.
 
Longwood earned its latest points in the conference standings with its Big South-leading fourth shutout of the year thanks to a two-save night from senior goalkeeper Jordan Horacek and a stingy performance from a Lancer backfield that allowed the Pirates (1-6-1, 0-2-1 Big South) just three shots all night.
 
"That was another gritty performance on the road," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer who is now 262-189-46 overall and 51-27-17 in the Big South in his 28 years leading the Lancers.
 
"Three games in six days is no joke. We scored a great goal in the first half, and that's all we really needed on the night. We had some other chances, but we'll just save those goals for later, I guess."
 
That one goal proved to be all the Lancers needed behind a defensive performance that included a nearly 40-minute gap between shots by Hampton. Leading that effort was the 90-minute marathon trio of Amanda Arnone, Brooke Bonner and Kylie Cahill, as well graduate student and team captain Madison Hommey, who also played the entire game in her holding midfield role. Alayna Palamar and Madison Lockamy also contributed to that effort, logging 70-plus minutes in the midfield.
 
Behind that unit, Longwood has now shut out four of its past seven foes, with Horacek – a first-year starter who ranks among the Big South's top three in goals against average and save percentage – earning all four of those clean sheets.
 
The Lancer offense also continued its resurgence with a goal in a third straight game, the group's longest scoring stretch of the season. Forst kept that streak going with her second goal of the season Tuesday, finishing off a pass from senior teammate Danielle Toone in the 15th minute to give the Lancers a lead they held on to the rest of the way.
 
"Hampton gave us some problems, and we had to deal with a few nervy moments, but in the end we got the job done," Dyer added. "Now we will get some much-needed rest and then hit the road again for another tough one at Gardner-Webb."
 
The Gardner-Webb game is shaping up to be a matchup between two Big South contenders, as both teams will enter the matchup in the top half of the league standings. Tuesday's win jumped Longwood into second place in the conference standings, trailing only 3-0-0 Campbell, while Gardner-Webb is currently in a four-way tie for fourth place.
 
That game will kick off at 7 p.m. this Saturday in Boiling Springs, N.C., and serve as the finale of a road-heavy stretch in which Longwood has played nine of its past 10 games away from home. After that matchup, the Lancers will come back to Farmville for a four-game homestand against Campbell (Oct. 6), Charleston Southern (Oct. 9), USC Upstate (Oct. 16) and High Point (Oct. 20).
 
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