ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Longwood men's soccer team travels to Navy to play it final regular-season non-conference match on Tuesday.
LAST TIME OUT
- Sophomore Brando Bedolla scored a pair of second-half goals just 39 seconds apart to help the Lancers force a 2-2 draw against Winthrop in Farmville.
- Bedolla got Longwood on the scoreboard as he bent a ball off of a short corner inside the far post with 65:34 on the clock.
- Bedolla then tied the match on a high press, deflecting a pass back to the Winthrop goalkeeper over the goal line at the 66:13 mark.
- The brace erased a 2-0 Winthrop lead created by Bernardo Pachecho's two goals in the seventh and 13th minutes, respectively.
- Longwood fired a season-best 37 shots on the night.
- Bedolla led the team with 10 shots, while Aaron Bruening and Jesus Macaya had five apiece.
- The shot total was the most for Longwood in at least 13 seasons.
ALL-TIME SERIES
- Navy leads the all-time series, 7-6-0, since the series began in 2007, but Longwood has won the last two matches, claiming victories in 2023 and 2024.
- In last season's 2-1 win in Farmville, Longwood received a goal and an assist from Ethan Stevenson with a 79th-minute winner coming from Aristhid Kamdjin.
- Each team has won three times in Annapolis.
LANCERS AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
- Longwood is 7-9-2 overall against teams currently part of the Patriot League.
- All of the Lancers' wins have come against Navy as Longwood is 7-6-0 against the Midshipmen.
BEDOLLA NAMED BIG SOUTH CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Brando Bedolla was named Big South Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following his two-goal performance in Longwood's 2-2 draw against Winthrop on Friday.
- The weekly honor is the second of Bedolla's career as he was named Big South Co-Freshman of the Week on Sept. 30, 2024.
- Bedolla's two tallies came just 39 seconds apart.
- The NCAA Division I men's soccer record for fastest two goals by the same player is eight seconds by Robby Christner of Oregon State versus Howard on Sept. 5, 2008.
SCOUTING NAVY
- Navy enters the match Tuesday last in the 10-team Patriot League at 3-6-5 overall and 0-4-2 in conference.
- The Mids are coming off of a 3-3 draw at home against Lafayette on Saturday.
- Luke Parker got the equalizer with only 12 seconds remaining to claim the point in the standings.
- Duncan Sullivan and Andrew Schug lead the team with three goals apiece while Sullivan Kean Brown and Jalen Grant all have two assists.
- Robert Eaton has appeared in 12 of 14 matches in goal and has a 1.36 goals-against average and .795 save percentage with two clean sheet. He's made 62 saves on the year.
- Navy has scored 0.93 goals per game while conceding 1.36 per contest.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, RPI THINGS
- Longwood has played the 69th most difficult schedule in Division I men's soccer as of Oct. 20 and is 179th 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 travels to USC Upstate on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
- The Spartans lead the all-time series — which began in 1988 — 5-1-3.
- The Longwood victory came last season in Farmville, an 8-2 win.
