FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood men's soccer knocked on the doorstep of a goal all night against Winthrop on Wednesday night.
Ethan Stevenson came through with a clutch goal, and the Lancers (4-3-3, 0-2-1 Big South) drew 1-1 with Winthrop (3-6-2, 2-0-2).
The junior nodded home the game-tying effort in the 86
th minute as part of a furious rally by Longwood.
Simao Coelho served up a wonderful, curling free kick that
Valentin Brandis headed across the six. Stevenson nicked it home to pull Longwood even.
SCORING:
1 2 FINAL
WU 0 1 1
LWU 0 1 1
50' | WU—Rodrigo Ferreira (1)
86' | LWU—
Ethan Stevenson (1), assist
Valentin Brandis and
Simao Coelho
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Throughout the 90 minutes, Longwood created chance after chance with one of their best offensive efforts of the season.
The Lancers generated 22 shots, with 10 on goal, and they dominated possession for long stretches of the match.
Over the first 45 minutes, Longwood ripped off 12 shots and had six on target. A trio of chances refused to go home, with the Lancer robbed twice by team saves after beating the goalkeeper initially. Stevenson was denied in the 19
th minute, and
Joshua Yoder had a rip that was destined for glory before a Winthrop defender was in the right place at the right time on a corner kick.
James Bolger also hit the post with a header mere minutes later.
After halftime, Winthrop took a 1-0 lead on a free kick by Rodrigo Ferreira that bent into the net.
Longwood responded by creating more chances, but the tying touch proved elusive until Stevenson took the lid off the goal in the 86
th minute. It was his first goal of the season.
That set the stage for a frantic final few minutes, as both sides had players sent off following the goal. However, each goalkeeper came up with a big stop to keep the margin set at 1-1.
WHAT THEY SAID:
They say you don't get what you deserve, you get what you earn," said Longwood Head Coach
Jon Atkinson. "In that case, we earned a point tonight but personally felt we deserved more. This was more our brand of football that we want to play, and as a result, were able to sustain good pressure and chances throughout. Our character got tested going a goal behind, but we responded, and as a coach, I can't ask any more of the lads' application and focus to get something from the game."
UP NEXT:
Longwood hits the road to take on USC Upstate on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The match is scheduled to air on ESPN+.
#GoWood #HorsePower
