FARMVILLE, Va. — The Longwood women's soccer team hosts Charleston Southern Saturday at 2 p.m., looking to build momentum following a midweek victory at Winthrop.
LAST TIME OUT
- Longwood scored twice in the opening 20 minutes and added three second-half goals Wednesday, rolling past Winthrop 5-0 in Big South action at Eagle Field.
- Peyton Curney scored just 45 seconds into the match, and Meghan Piazza doubled Longwood's advantage in the 20th minute as the Lancers seized control early. Coryn Silberstein assisted on Piazza's goal.
- Longwood continued to apply pressure after halftime, with Reese Coggeshall scoring in the 65th minute to make it 3-0.
- Sam Fischer added another goal less than five minutes later, scoring in the 70th minute on an assist from Remi Siner. Berni Wayland then scored off of Siner's corner kick three minutes later to cap the scoring.
- The Lancers outshot Winthrop 22-5, including a 12-2 advantage in shots on goal. Longwood also held a 7-6 edge in corner kicks.
- Longwood's Brynn Clagett made two saves to record the shutout — her third of the season in six starts.
NOTING THE WIN AT WINTHROP
- The Lancers' 5-0 victory at Winthrop on Wednesday marked their most goals since a 5-3 win over VMI on Aug. 20, 2025.
- It also tied Longwood's largest margin of victory in its Big South era, while being the biggest win in a Big South match on the road.
- Longwood also topped USC Upstate, 5-0, at home on Oct. 16, 2021 and Gardner-Webb, 5-0, on Sept. 24, 2016, also in Farmville.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
- Longwood holds a 15-5-4 edge in the all-time series against Charleston Southern, dating to 2004, including a 9-2-1 mark in Farmville.
- The Lancers have won the last three matches in the series by a 9-2 margin.
- Longwood topped the Buccaneers, 5-2, in North Charleston on Oct. 18 of last year in the regular season before knocking CSU out of the Big South tournament with a 2-0 first-round win two weeks later on Nov. 1.
- Meghan Piazza (54th-minute penalty) and Remi Siner (65th) scored for the Lancers and Sara Curtis made three saves for a clean sheet that night.
SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
- Charleston Southern is 2-8-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the Big South and has dropped two matches in a row in home encounters with USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb, 2-1, on Sept. 23 and 26, respectively. The Bucs beat Winthrop on the road to open league play on Sept. 19.
- Danika Burch leads CSU in goals (four) and points (nine). Jillian Brown, Nina Meyer, Gianna Simon and Taylor Campbell each also have two goals apiece.
- Charleston Southern averages 1.60 goals per game and surrenders 2.5 per contest.
- Avery Mason has appeared in nine matches with eight starts this season in the CSU net. She is 2-7-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .556 save percentage with one shutout.
BAGELS
- With five clean sheets in 12 matches so far this season, Longwood is tops in the Big South and 104th in the nation in shutout percentage at .417.
- Freshman Brynn Clagett blanked American, 3-0, and VMI, 1-0, in consecutive matches on the road on Aug. 23 and 27.
- Junior Madie Wessel followed with a six-save 0-0 shutout at Richmond on Sept. 3 in her first collegiate start and just second-ever appearance.
- Wessel then helped the Lancers to a 1-0 win over Hampton on Sept. 6.
- Clagett picked up her third shutout of the season in the Lancers' 5-0 win at Winthrop on Sept. 30, making two saves.
WESSEL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Junior goalkeeper Madie Wessel was named Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8.
- Wessel made the first two starts of her career in net for Longwood, keeping clean sheets in both last week for the Lancers.
- She turned aside six shots in a scoreless draw at Richmond on Sept. 3, five of which came after halftime, and followed it with a second shutout as Longwood beat Hampton, 1-0, at home on Sept. 6.
- In seven matches this season — her first action as a collegian — Wessel is 1-3-2 with a 1.17 goals-against average, .781 save percentage and 25 saves.
BERNICE!
- Junior Berni Wayland was named Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 24.
- The West Linn, Ore., native, anchored a backline that limited American to just two shots, including one on goal, as Longwood blanked the Eagles, 3-0, on Aug. 23.
- Wayland played all 90 minutes in the Lancers' first win of the season and also did so in the season opener against Campbell on Aug. 13.
- The weekly honor is the third of Wayland's career. She earned Big South Freshman of the Week plaudits in consecutive weeks on Oct. 14 and 21, 2024.
A LOOK BACK
- Longwood went 9-7-3 overall and 5-3-0 in the Big South, posting its best record since going 13-5-3 overall and 6-1-2 in the league in 2017.
- The Lancers advanced to at least the Big South semifinals a season ago for the fifth time in program history.
- Forward Sam Fischer was named Big South Freshman of the Year and first team all-league. She was joined on the all-conference team by first-team defender Sydney Robertson, second-team midfielder Meghan Piazza and second-team goalkeeper Sara Curtis.
FRESH FACES
- Longwood has added eight newcomers to its 2026 roster, including four transfers and four freshmen.
- Among the transfers are junior Maddy Howells (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) and sophomores Bailey Altizer(Eastern Kentucky) Brooke Owens (VCU) and Farmville native McKenna Vogel, who spent her freshman season at Campbell.
- Vogel, coached by Stuart Carilli at Prince Edward County High School, appeared in 10 matches, making two starts, for the Camels in 2025.
LANCERS PICKED THIRD IN BIG SOUTH POLL
- Longwood was selected to finish third in the Big South preseason coaches poll, announced on Aug. 6.
- The Lancers earned 63 points in the poll to finish ahead of USC Upstate in fourth with 58 points and the remaining first-place nod. Charleston Southern (43 points) was fifth, followed by Winthrop (32) in sixth, UNC Asheville (29) in seventh and Gardner-Webb (22) in eighth. Presbyterian rounded out the voting in ninth place with 13 points.
- High Point (76 points, seven first-pace votes and 76 points) is the preseason favorite in the league. Radford was chosen second with 69 points and one first-place nod.
- It marks just the third time in history the Lancers were picked in that position. Longwood was also third in 2019 and 2014, respectively.
FISCHER BIG SOUTH PRESEASON FORWARD OF THE YEAR
- Sophomore Sam Fischer was named Big South Preseason Forward of the Year in the Big South.
- Fischer is just the second Longwood player to earn a major preseason award since the Lancers joined the conference for the 2012 season. Sydney Wallace was Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.
- Fischer, the Big South Freshman of the Year and a first-team all-league pick last season, led the Lancers in goals (seven) and points (16). She was named Freshman of the Week two times and Player of the Week once while playing in all 19 matches with seven starts.
- Fischer opened her Longwood career with nine points in her first three matches on four goals and one assist.
- Fischer saw her first action of 2026 in the ETSU match Aug. 30, coming back from injury to provide a spark off the bench in 32 minutes.
- She scored her first goal of the season in the Lancers' 5-0 win at Winthrop on Sept. 30.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Five Longwood players were named to the Big South Top Returners Watch List, the league announced on Aug. 5.
- On the watch list — which includes selections from each of the league's head coaches and returning all-conference honorees — were forwards Peyton Curney and Sam Fischer, midfielders Meghan Piazza and Coryn Silberstein and defender Berni Wayland.
- Four Lancers — Madison Fitzpatrick, Fischer, Silberstein and Wayland — were part of the Big South's Midseason Watch List, announced on Sept. 17
O CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
ONE AND ONLY
- Now in his 33rd season with the Longwood women's soccer team, head coach Todd Dyer is the only the coach to lead the program since its inception in 1994.
- Dyer, a 1993 Longwood graduate, has a 304-230-64 (.562) overall record, including a 144-57-30 (.688) mark in conference.
- Dyer also coached the Longwood men's soccer team for seven seasons from 1996-02, going 75-53-7 (.581) overall.
NEXT UP
- The Lancers are at UNC Asheville next Saturday at 2 p.m.
- Longwood leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 12-2-2, since 2005.
