BLACKSBURG, Va. — Longwood is back on the road Tuesday at Virginia Tech in a 5 p.m., kickoff on ACC Network Extra.
LAST TIME OUT
- Longwood fell at No. 20/23 Gardner-Webb Friday in Big South action.
- The Runnin' Bulldogs received goals from Samson Kpardeh in the 42nd minute and Jaylen Orr in the 84th.
- The Lancers had a golden opportunity to equalize in the 52nd minute as Brando Bedolla was fouled just inside the box, earning a penalty. Jesus Macaya stepped to the spot and pushed it wide of the right post.
- Max Hinke made six saves in the Longwood goal, including four after halftime.
SERIES HISTORY
- Virginia Tech leads the all-time series — which began in 1982 — 8-4-2.
- The Hokies are 6-0-1 in the last seven matches against Longwood.
- The last Lancers' victory in the series came Oct. 5, 2010 at home. Longwood won that night, 1-0, on a 70th-minute goal from Devin Pierce.
LONGWOOD AGAINST THE ACC
- Longwood is 4-30-7 all-time against teams currently part of the ACC.
- The only Lancers' wins have come against Virginia Tech.
- Tuesday's meeting will the be the 15th with the Hokies, Longwood's most against any one ACC school in men's soccer.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
- Virginia Tech enters play 3-2-4 overall following a 1-1 draw at No. 23 Notre Dame on Friday.
- Ethan Page equalized in the 83rd minute after Wyatt Borso scored in the 21st to give the Fighting Irish the lead.
- Alex Perez leads Virginia Tech with two goals and six points on the season, while Perez, Noe Uwimana and Yanis Belatrache are tied for the team lead in assists with two apiece.
- Defensively, VT is limiting the opposition to one goal per match and 9.2 shots per contest.
- Sam Joseph has seen every minute in goal, and has a 1.00 goals-against average and .700 save percentage with four clean sheets. He's made 21 saves on the year.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, RPI THINGS
- Longwood has played the 19th most difficult schedule in Division I men's soccer as of Oct. 6.
- The Lancers are 1-3-1 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 94th in the RPI.
- Longwood also drew, 2-2, at Campbell on Sept. 16. The Fighting Camels are now 116th 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.
WELCOME BACK
- Longwood senior forward senior forward spent the spring 2024 semester on the Virginia Tech roster before enrolling at Longwood this fall.
- Conolly has two goals and one assist for five points in five starts and nine matches for the Lancers this season.
- Conolly, who has appeared for the Cayman Islands senior national team, spent the 2024 season at Division II Concord, scoring 12 goals and one assist to rank fifth in a single season for goals and sixth in points (25) for the Mountain Lions.
- Conolly was to the named D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Second Team in 2024.
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 jumps back into Big South play on Sunday at 2 p.m., hosting UNC Asheville on ESPN+.
- The Lancers lead the all-time series with Asheville, 9-8-2, including a 4-3 victory on the road in the Big South championship first round on Nov. 6, 2024.
