FARMVILLE, Va. — The Longwood men's soccer team got goals from five different players, exploding for four in the second half, on its way to a 5-3 victory over Presbyterian on senior night on Friday at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
With the win, the Lancers' third consecutive over the Blue Hose, Longwood remained alive in the chase for the sixth and final spot in the Big South tournament, which begins next week. The Lancers will qualify for postseason with a High Point win over Winthrop, coupled with a USC Upstate victory at Radford on Saturday.
Longwood (3-8-5, 1-4-2) received a goal and two assists from sophomore Brando Bedolla and three assists from junior Jesus Macaya, rolling to its first Big South victory of the season with a season-best offensive showing.
Macaya become the first player in the league this season to post three assists in a match in the win.
"I thought we were really good," said Longwood head coach Paul Gilbert. "I thought we had a good week of training, and it really felt like most of the things that we worked on in training came to fruition in the match, and so you're always happy when you see those pictures and those situations. And I thought the guys executed really, really well. So, we're pretty happy with that."
Senior Aaron Asamoah got Longwood on the board in the 11th minute, ripping a shot into the upper right off the net off of assists from Ezrah Serralde and Macaya.
Christer Salvesen doubled the lead just after halftime, nodding in a Bedolla corner kick in the 49th minute.
Presbyterian got one back three minutes later through Iragi Kalala with 51:44 on the clock, but the Lancers responded just 25 seconds later to make it 3-1.
On that play, freshman Benjamin Ferrrero got on the end of a Bedolla centering feed from the left side of the box. Paul Espinoza earned the secondary assist, chipping the ball forward to Bedolla.
Ten minutes later, Syrus Conolly scored his fourth of the season for a 4-1 lead, slotting a Macaya through ball past Presbyterian goalkeeper Tim Baerwalde. Ten minutes after that, Bedolla closed the Lancers' account in the 73rd minute, curling a ball into the side netting from the penalty spot after Macaya charged down the left flank and played it to him in the box.
"Earlier in the week, we we really thought that we could transition through. him and and one other player quite a bit, and it happened all night. And so, for us he played with quite a bit of motivation tonight, being that this could have been his last game of college soccer," Gilbert said of Macaya. "And so I thought he was really good. We moved him around a little bit halfway through the first half. And I thought that really helped him, too. So super happy with that."
Presbyterian (6-7-5, 3-3-1) received goals from Albert Shermer in the 87th and Mike Walenchok in the 88th minutes for the final margin.
Max Hinke earned the win in the Longwood goal, making four saves. Baerwalde made three stops for the Blue Hose in a losing effort.
The Lancers will, no doubt, be pulling for USC Upstate on Saturday at Radford. "I think I'm going to put on some green and white tomorrow," Gilbert joked. "For us, it's bittersweet because of how well we played tonight that I've seen that all year in training. All the metrics indicate that we should have way more than three wins.
"And finally, tonight you saw it all come together, and you, you see our attacking football, you see our verticality. You see us between lines. I just I kind of wish I would have seen it a little bit sooner this year. But that's the way football goes. And for us, we we just hope that we get the opportunity to play again."
