FARMVILLE, Va. – The bench mob made the difference on Thursday night for Longwood women's soccer.
Sara Kate George and
Coryn Silberstein both scored second half goals for the Lancers (1-6-2), and Longwood scratched and clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to draw with Howard 2-2.
SCORE
|
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
| HOW |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| LWU |
0 |
2 |
2 |
7' | HOW—Samantha James (1)
24' | HOW—Gabrielle Garcia-Terrell (1), assist Zoe Moore, Mimi Richards
77' | LWU—
Sara Kate George (1)
78' | LWU—
Coryn Silberstein (2)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Howard (1-3-4) dominated the opening half. The Bison were the aggressors and forced the issue repeatedly on offense.
Savannah James bent home a corner kick in the seventh minute to pay off the pressure initially, but Howard wasn't finished. In the 24
th minute, the Bison made it 2-0 off a nifty combination up the middle from Mimi Richards to Zoe Moore to Gabrielle Garcia-Terrell.
However, the Lancer bench mob came on and started to match Howard's intensity moments later, and Longwood finally found its footing. George, fellow freshman
Taylor Hoag and sophomore
Sunny Ferren, in addition to Silberstein, provided a jolt of energy. Late in the half, Longwood nearly cut it to one, but
Sydney Robertson's shot off a corner kick was saved off the line.
Ferren, George, Hoag, Silberstein,
Kylie Tusant, and
Remi Siner maintained that level of intensity after halftime, and the grit and grind paid off in the 77
th minute.
Emma Jones found George on the edge of the 18, and George quickly touched it to Hoag out wide. Hoag lofted the ball into the box, and a mad scramble ensued inside the six. George pounced and struck it off the post for her first collegiate goal.
Less than a minute later, Silberstein tied it up thanks to Lancer pressure. Siner crossed a ball into the box that bounced around, and Howard's clearance fell to Siner on the edge of the 18-yard box. The sophomore settled the ball and fired it on frame, and the ball deflected off a defender on the way in for a 2-2 score line.
From that point on, Longwood had one more good chance, but Jones' shot sailed high.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"We were pretty bad those first 30 minutes and found ourselves in a 2-0 deficit," said Longwood Head Coach
Todd Dyer. "The group that came in for us late in the first half changed the game for us and that continued with them starting the second half and giving us a fighting chance the rest of the way. They injected energy, fight and competitiveness into the game for us, and it made all the difference. Now we need to find a way to start games with that level of desire and commitment."
"When you come off the bench, you get to see how the game is playing out beforehand, and you know what you need to do when you get in there and can capitalize on that," Silberstein said of her mindset coming in off the bench. "We really needed to get the ball forward, and I feel like all the subs did a good job of keeping it in our offensive half, and we had opportunities. We just couldn't finish on them. In the second half, we capitalized on our opportunities playing offensively minded because we started the same way we ended the first half."
"I just wanted to bring as much energy as I possibly could," George said about her goal coming on as a sub. "I feel like that's the best thing that I could do for the team, and I'm lucky that my energy helped change the game."
"I was really excited," Silberstein said about what she felt when she scored. "I was more happy that we came back from a 2-0 loss because it's a really big showing for us. We're excited for conference.
"It feels really good, and I'm glad I was able to help my team in a positive way today and help get us back in the game," George said about her first collegiate goal and the impact on the match.
UP NEXT:
Longwood stays home for one final non-conference match. The Lancers host UMBC on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. It will be Senior Day at the field, and the match will air on ESPN+.
#GoWood #HorsePower
