ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Longwood women's soccer team heads to UNC Asheville a day earlier than expected to take on the Bulldogs Friday in an effort to beat the weather and extend its winning streak to three matches. Kickoff from Greenwood Field is set for 2 p.m., on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
- Junior defender Remi Siner scored in the 16th minute and Longwood held on for a 1-0 victory over Charleston Southern in Big South action on Saturday at home.
- Siner's fourth career goal and first game winner, which followed a two-assist performance in last Wednesday's 5-0 win at Winthrop, came at the 15:44 mark off of a corner kick.
- Senior Coryn Silberstein played an in-swinging ball to the head of junior Taylor Hoag, who then found Siner. Her header beat Charleston Southern goalkeeper MacKenzie Marotz to the far post.
- The Lancers took five shots in the opening half and carried the 1-0 advantage into halftime.
- Longwood freshman goalkeeper Brynn Clagett made two saves to record her fourth shutout of the season, controlling her area well, while snagging several critical balls out of the air in the closing minutes.
NOTING THE WIN AT WINTHROP
- The Lancers' 5-0 victory at Winthrop last 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.
CLAGETT SNAGS WEEKLY HONOR
- Freshman goalkeeper Brynn Clagett was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week in women's soccer on Monday.
- Clagett posted a pair of clean sheets – her third and fourth of the season – as the Lancers topped Winthrop, 5-0, on the road Sept. 30 and Charleston Southern, 1-0, at home Oct. 3.
- The Frederick, Md., product, who made two saves in each match, helped Longwood tie its largest margin of victory ever in a Big South match in the win over the Eagles.
- In seven matches this season — all starts — Clagett is 4-3-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average, .714 save percentage and 15 saves.
- She is the third Longwood player to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors this season, joining junior goalkeeper Madie Wessel (Sept. 8) and junior defender Berni Wayland (Aug. 24).
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST UNC ASHEVILLE
- Longwood is 12-2-2 all-time against UNC Asheville, dating to 2005, including a 5-1-1 mark in Asheville.
- The Lancers have gone 2-0-1 against the Bulldogs overall with consecutive clean sheets in 2024 and 2025 in Farmville.
- Karleigh Minson scored in the 18th minute and Taylor added insurance in the 37th minute, while Sara Curtis made three saves for the shutout in last season's meeting on Oct. 25.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Winner of six straight matches, UNC Asheville is 7-3-3 overall and 4-0-0 in the Big South, following a 4-0 victory at Gardner-Webb in Saturday.
- The Bulldogs are of to their best league start in the program's Division I era, and have recorded three straight clean sheets for the second time in as many seasons.
- Asheville's Lili Adams, the league's reigning Offensive Player of the Week, leads the Big South with nine goals and is tied for the league lead with 21 points.
- As a team, the Bulldogs lead the conference, scoring 2.538 goals per game, while surrendering just 1.08 goals, a figure that is tied for second in the circuit with Longwood.
- Eleven different players have scored the Bulldogs' 33 goals this season.
- London Phoenix, the Big South's current Freshman of the Week, has earned the lion share of time in the Asheville goal, going 7-3-2 overall with an 0.94 goals-against average, .823 save percentage and four shutouts in 12 starts.
BAGELS
- With six clean sheets in 13 matches so far this season, Longwood is tops in the Big South and 104th in the nation in shutout percentage at .462.
- 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. She then added another with two more saves in a 1-0 home win over Charleston Southern on Saturday.
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 305-230-64 (.563) overall record, including a 145-57-30 (.690) 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 back home to face Radford Wednesday at 6 p.m.
- Radford leads the all-time series with the Lancers, 12-9-3, since 2004.
