FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood men's soccer had plenty of chances to fold on senior day on Saturday afternoon against Presbyterian. They didn't, and instead, they battled to a hard-fought, well-earned 3-2 win.
Fittingly, a pair of players honored before the match led the charge. Senior
Miles Cooper scored the game winner, and graduate student
James Bolger tallied one goal and one assist for the Lancers (6-5-3, 1-4-1 Big South).
SCORING:
1 2 FINAL
PC 1 1 2
LWU 2 1 3
19' | PC—Damorney Hutchinson (6), assist Damian McGregor-Wickham, Victor Faaborg Christensen
36' | LWU—
James Bolger (2), assist
Ben Wilkinson
39' | LWU—
Darcy Moffat (2), assist
James Bolger
55' | PC—Victor Faaborg Christensen (6), assist Diego Hernandez
78' | LWU—
Miles Cooper (2), assist
Iago Rodriguez
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Longwood created the first chances on goal, but it Presbyterian (5-8-2, 2-3-1 Big South) struck first. Damorney Hutchinson put the Blue Hose on the board with a tap-in in the 19
th minute.
The Lancers buckled down and started to surge late in the first half. They finally broke through in the 36
th minute. After a Longwood corner was turned aside, senior
Ben Wilkinson served the ball back into the box. His service only had eyes for Bolger, as it bounded through multiple players on both teams to Bolger on the six-yard mark. The grad transfer slipped it home off the post to tie things up as the bench erupted with joy.
Longwood struck again less than three minutes later. This time, Bolger won the ball in the midfield and played it direct to
Darcy Moffat. The young freshman split the back line, beat the keeper, and netted a go-ahead goal in the 39
th minute.
After halftime, Faaborg Christensen equalized the score for Presbyterian, but the Lancers remained undaunted. Even as PC pushed forward for a deciding goal, Longwood responded in kind.
In the 78
th minute, the Lancers broke through. Fresh substitute
Iago Rodriguez found Cooper streaking up the field. The junior lofted it to the senior, who split the back line and buried his chance for his second goal of the season, and both have gone down as game winners.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"I'm very proud of our players who have never given up," said Longwood Head Coach
Jon Atkinson. "Even through the adversity and setbacks we have faced this season, they have showed commitment and maturity that belies their age and refused to go down without a fight."
"It seems I have used a very common theme throughout the year insofar as we have played and controlled big parts of games only to be outdone by a moment that we switched off," Atkinson added. "It was no different today, and our lads played with their heart and head, and they ground out an exciting result in front of their friends and family on senior night."
UP NEXT:
Longwood hits the road and heads to Gardner-Webb for the final match of the regular season on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. The match will be aired on ESPN+.
#GoWood #HorsePower
