FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood men's soccer team wraps the regular season hosting Presbyterian Friday at 7 p.m.
SENIOR DAY
- Prior to kickoff Friday the Lancers will honor their 14 seniors.
- They are: David Ambaek, Phil Appelt, Aaron Asamoah, Cyrus Conolly, Paul Espinoza, Benjamin Gaertner, Max Hinke, Mateo Nance, Kunandy Ouattara, Youssou Ouendeno, Kevin Peprah, Joao Ratinho, Muazu Sagir and Joshua Yoder.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
- Longwood still has a shot to sneak in to the final Big South tournament spot.
- The Lancers must beat Presbyterian and have USC Upstate beat Radford and High Point beat Winthrop to earn the sixth and final place in the field.
- Only the Longwood match of three is being played Friday.
- The USC Upstate at Radford match is set for 3 p.m., on Saturday with Winthrop at High Point to follow at 6 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
- Longwood spotted USC Upstate 2-0 lead last Saturday in Spartanburg, S.C., before coming storming back with goals in the 29th and 73rd minutes to force a 2-2 draw.
- Christer Salvesen barely stayed onside to nod home his first collegiate goal, assisted by Ezrah Serralde to cut the lead in half.
- Aaron Asamoah scored his first of the season, tying the match with a curling shot to far post, assisted by Brando Bedolla.
- Max Hinke made five saves in goal for the Lancers.
ALL-TIME SERIES
- Presbyterian leads the all-time series with Longwood, 9-6-1, since it began in 2002 season.
- Longwood has won the last two meetings, including a 3-1 win in Clinton, S.C., on Sept. 22, 2024.
- Ethan Stevenson's second-half hat trick, capped by a 90th-minute penalty kick, won last season's match.
- The series is tied, 3-3-0, in Farmville.
FIT TO BE TIED
• Saturday's 2-2 draw was Longwood's third consecutive tie.
• The Lancers also drew, 2-2, both against Winthrop on Oct. 17 and at Navy on Oct. 21.
• The Lancers have posted three straight draws only one other time in the history of the program.
• The 1983 team drew, 1-1, at Eastern Mennonite Oct. 29, against Hampden-Sydney, 2-2, Nov. 1 and against Richmond, 3-3, Nov. 5.
SCOUTING PRESBYTERIAN
- Presbyterian enters the match 6-6-5 overall and 3-2-1 in the Big South. The Blue Hose are tied for third in the league standings with UNC Asheville with 10 points.
- The Blue Hose are coming off of a 3-2 win at home against Radford on Saturday.
- Thomas Stofring got the winner in the 80th minute. Steven Cordova leads PC with 10 points on three goals and four assists.
- Iragi Kalala has a team-best four goals, while Cordova and Aloni Elfu lead the Blue Hose with four assists apiece.
- Tim Benjamin Baerwalde has played every second for Presbyterian in goal.
- He has a 1.24 goals-against average and .747 save percentage with six clean sheets. He's made 62 saves on the year.
- Presbyterian has been outscored, 21-20, on the season.
BEDOLLA NAMED BIG SOUTH CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Brando Bedolla was named Big South Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20 following his two-goal performance in Longwood's 2-2 draw against Winthrop on Oct. 17.
- 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.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, RPI THINGS
- Longwood has played the 114th most difficult schedule in Division I men's soccer as of Oct. 30 and is 191st 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.
