CULHOWEE, N.C. – Sunday afternoon, Longwood women's soccer persevered on the road at Western Carolina, the reigning champions of the Southern Conference.
The Lancers (0-2-1) erased a 1-0 halftime deficit behind goals from
Coryn Silberstein and
Taylor Hoag, but WCU (1-2-1) scored the equalizer on a corner with 10 seconds remaining for a 2-2 tie.
SCORING:
1 2 FINAL
LWU 0 2 2
WCU 1 1 2
24' | WCU—Kirsten Hahn (4), assist Becca Campbell
56' | LWU—
Coryn Silberstein (1), assist
Sunny Ferren
71' | LWU—
Taylor Hoag (1), assist
Emma Jones
90' | WCU—Becca Campbell (3), assist Milla Syska, Naya Marcil
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Western Carolina peppered the Lancer goal early, with nine first half shots and 19 total for the match, but
Sara Curtis came up big time after time in goal for Longwood. Curtis finished with eight saves, her Longwood best, with four coming in each half.
However, WCU's Kirsten Hahn struck off a feed from Becca Campbell in the 24
th minute. She turned and slipped one to the far post off a free kick.
Curtis and the rest of the Lancer back line kept the score there at the half, and Longwood found its footing after halftime.
In the 56
th minute,
Alex Dinger slipped a ball wide to
Sunny Ferren on the wing. Ferren punched a cross into the box, and it ricocheted out to
Coryn Silberstein at the top of the 18-yard box. Silberstein's touch to the corner was pitch-perfect, sliding past the goalkeeper's outstretched hands to knot things up at one apiece.
Fifteen minutes later, the Lancers countered to take the lead.
Amanda Arnone sent the ball up the line, and
Meghan Piazza clipped it wide to
Emma Jones. Jones raced past her defender before centering the ball to the six-yard box, where Hoag redirected it into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. It was Hoag's first collegiate goal.
WCU pressed forward from there, and the home side won a corner kick off a reflex save by Curtis with 25 seconds left. Milla Syska had the initial tough off the corner, but it rebounding off the crossbar. Campbell pounced on it to tie the match at two apiece.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"Our players showed so much character coming back from 1-0 down at the half to go ahead 2-1," said Longwood Head Coach
Todd Dyer. "A little heartbreaking that we conceded on teh corner kick in the last 11 seconds, but all in all a gutsy performance and result on the road against the defending SoCon champions. Hopefully scoring those two goals is a sign of things to come on the offensive side of things. We continue to learn, we continue to compete and we'll get better with late game management. Another big road test coming up Thursday."
"Our players that came off the bench late in the first half and starting the second half really changed the game for us," Dyer added. "Great goal by Coryn, and Taylor opened her college goal scoring account."
UP NEXT:
Longwood stays on the road with a trip to Appalachian State on Thursday. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m., with the match airing on ESPN+.
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