FARMVILLE, Va. — The Longwood men's soccer team returns home to host UNC Asheville in a key Big South Conference matchup Sunday at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Lancers fell at Virginia Tech on Tuesday, 3-0.
- The Hokies' Dagur Traustason scored all three goals in the 13th, 30th and 72nd minutes.
- Alex Perez collected a pair of assists for Virginia Tech.
- Youssou Ouendeno earned his fourth start in the Longwood goal and made a season-best seven saves.
- Aaron Asamoah and Joaquin Sonez posted Longwood's shots on goal.
SERIES HISTORY
- Longwood leads the all-time series with UNC Asheville, 9-8-2, since it began in 2003.
- Longwood is 6-3-1 at home against Asheville and 7-5-1 in Big South action.
- The Lancers knocked off the Bulldogs on the road in the Big South tournament first round, 4-3, in the last meeting between the two on Nov. 6.
- Ethan Stevenson scored a hat trick in the contest with goals in the eighth, 53rd and 78th minutes.
- The win was the first for Longwood in the league tournament since beating High Point, 1-0, on Nov. 9, 2016 to advance to the Big South championship match.
SCOUTING UNC ASHEVILLE
- UNC Asheville enters the match at 5-4-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the Big South under first-year head coach Danny Frid.
- The Bulldogs are coming off of a 4-0 loss against No. 7 High Point at home on Oct. 4.
- Asheville's lone victory in the league was a 2-1 triumph over Radford on Sept. 27, also at home.
- The Bulldogs have scored 13 goals and conceded 15 in 10 matches this season.
- Rodrigo Mendes leads UNC Asheville with four goals and 10 points on the season, while Mendes, Charlie Wood and Arnor Hardarson are tied for the team lead in assists with two apiece.
- Lucca Barros has seen every minute in goal, and has a 1.50 goals-against average and .571 save percentage with one clean sheet. He's made 20 saves on the year.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, RPI THINGS
- Longwood has played the 31st most difficult schedule in Division I men's soccer as of Oct. 11 and is 143rd in the RPI.
- The Lancers are 1-4-0 against teams inside the top 100 of the RPI, earning a 1-0 victory at home over Elon on Sept. 23, which was receiving votes in the national polls at the time. Elon is currently 80th in the RPI.
- Longwood also drew, 2-2, at Campbell on Sept. 16. The Fighting Camels are now 122nd in the RPI, but were inside the top 100 at the time of that match.
PLAYING THE BEST
- The Lancers have played two teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll this season.
- In addition to West Virginia, which was No. 15 at the time of the match, Longwood also played then-No. 9 High Point.
FIVE NAMED TO BIG SOUTH MIDSEASON WATCHLIST
LANCERS PICKED THIRD IN BIG SOUTH POLL
- Longwood was selected to finish third in the Big South preseason coaches poll, announced on Aug. 13
- The team received 41 points in the voting to finish behind just High Point and Gardner-Webb, which earned 62 and 55 points, respectively. Those two schools split the first-place votes with 2024 regular-season champion Panthers garnering six and the Runnin' Bulldogs picking up the remaining two nods for the top spot.
- The third-place tag for Longwood represents a tie for the highest-ever finish in the Big South preseason poll, matching the 2022 squad.
NEXT UP
- Longwood is back in action next Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m., against Winthrop in Farmville.
- The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Lancers, 14-3-1 since 1978.
- Longwood's last win versus Winthrop came Oct. 6, 2021 by a 3-2 count at home.
