FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood women's soccer team closes non-conference play against UMBC Sunday at the Longwood Athletics Complex at 2 p.m., on ESPN+.
The Lancers will honor four seniors — Peyton Curney, Madison Fitzpatrick, Meghan Piazza and Coryn Silberstein — in a ceremony prior to kickoff.
LAST TIME OUT
- Senior Meghan Piazza scored in the 81st minute and Longwood rallied for a 1-1 draw with George Mason on Thursday at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
- Piazza's first goal of the season came with 9:09 remaining in regulation. Brooke Owens provided the assist on a long ball off of a restart at the midfield stripe.
- George Mason took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute when Mia Arevalo-Delcid converted a penalty kick for her third goal of the season.
- Play was halted for more than an hour due to lightning in the area and resumed with less than five minutes to play in the first half.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST UMBC
- Longwood is 6-4-2 against the Retrievers since the series began in 2005.
- The Lancers last topped UMBC, 1-0, on Aug. 20, 2023 on the road on a 20th-minute Peyton Curney goal.
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS
- UMBC is off to its best start since 2014, when the Retrievers opened the season 6-2-0 after their first eight contests.
- The Retrievers have Division I wins over Mount St. Mary's, 3-1, on Aug. 13, American, 2-1, on Aug. 16, Towson, 3-1, on Sept. 3 and Wagner, 1-0, on Sept. 6, all at home.
- Freshman Brooke Clagett, sister of Longwood first-year goalkeeper Brynn Clagett and part of a set of triplets, leads UMBC in goals (four) and points (nine). She already has a pair of weekly honors from America East, earning both Rookie and Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 17.
- Amara Codd has played every second of UMBC's nine matches this season, and has a 1.22 goals-against average, .784 save percentage and two clean sheets on the season.
- UMBC was picked to finish eighth in the nine-team America East preseason poll with 16 points.
BAGELS
- With four clean sheets in eight matches so far this season, Longwood is tops in the Big South and 64th in the nation in shutout percentage.
- 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 Sunday.
WESSEL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Junior goalkeeper Madie Wessel was named Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
- 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 last Sunday.
- In four matches this season — her first action as a collegian — Wessel is 1-0-2 with a 0.29 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and 10 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.
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.
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 303-227-64 (.564) overall record, including a 143-55-30 (.693) 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 next host High Point Saturday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m., to begin Big South play on ESPN+.
- High Point leads the all-time series, 18-5-5, but Longwood took a 1-0 win on the road on Oct. 1 of last season on a 16th-minute Sam Fischer goal.
