ASHEVILLE, N.C- The Longwood and UNC Asheville men's soccer teams settled for a point each on Tuesday after a back-and-forth contest saw the two sides draw 2-2.
 
Goals (Assists):

16' Longwood- Ethan Stevenson
22' UNC Asheville- Heath Flathau (Sam Presser)
51' UNC Asheville- Sam Pitts-Eckersall (Brendan Herb)
62' Longwood – Mason Butcher (Gonzalo Carrasco)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

Both sides did not record a shot in the first 10 minutes of the match as the two teams were feeling each other out in the flow of the game. A pass from Longwood's Marco Magnoli in the 16' minute found Stevenson around the edge of the 18-yard box, and some tenacity saw the Lancers #7 fire a shot from close range. A decent save from Asheville keeper A.J Bendgds was not enough as Stevenson got his own rebound and tapped it home for his first goal in a Lancers uniform.

Heath Flathau scored from a volley after a Presser cross just six minutes later to tie the game up. Alexandre Durand recorded three saves in the first half to help keep the game knotted at the first whistle.

Just five minutes after the start of the second half, Pitts-Eckersall scored with a neat finish after an Herb through-ball to give Asheville their first lead of the afternoon.

The Lancers battled back and were rewarded just 10 minutes later from a corner kick when Carrasco found Butcher in the box for his first goal of the season.

The two sides continued to push the rest of the way but neither side could find the back of the net, leaving both sides to settle for a draw.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"The game started bright enough and saw us on the front foot," said head coach Jon Atkinson after the draw in Asheville. "Scored the go-ahead goal and had some good looks at goal, however slowly but surely we lost our way as our play deteriorated. While conditions were tricky we certainly don't make it easy on ourselves at times and it really doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes a point on the road is worthy in certain situations, I feel this time of season both teams won't be very satisfied."

"I'm proud of the lads effort," further added Atkinson. "We battled hard throughout not giving up so I'm happy with that. I know our guys care and are frustrated also so we roll our sleeves up and go again."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Both Stevenson and Butcher's goals were the first of the year for either. Stevenson's was his first since he transferred to Longwood.

Durand made four saves in net; three of them came in the first half alone.

Stevenson also led the game in shots with six total, two of which were on frame.

Since Longwood joined the Big South in 2012, they lead the series against UNC Asheville 8-3-1.
 
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood gears up for another Big South contest this upcoming Sunday when they travel to Presbyterian College to take on the Blue Hose.