ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Longwood men's soccer dropped its Big South Opener on the road at UNC Asheville, 3-0, on Saturday.
The game was delayed nearly two and a half hours early in the second half due to lightning in the area.
Following the delay, the Bulldogs (6-1-1, 1-0 Big South) took advantage of the reset, scoring three times in an 18-minute span. Tyler Ware scored the first two UNCA goals, including the icebreaker in the 57th minute.
Junior forward
Brando Bedolla had a trio of chances on frame in the second half, all of which required standout saves from Asheville's Lucca Barros. The first came in the 59th minute as he split a pair of UNCA defenders cutting back to his right, but Barros made the reflex save to preserve the home team's 1-0 lead.
With Longwood (5-3, 0-1 Big South) pushing to close the gap and trailing, 2-0, the Bulldogs found the final goal of the match on the counterattack as Kayoum Mbamba scored to the upper 90 in the 69th minute.
Graduate student goalkeeper
Nicolas Pucci posted a season-high eight saves, four in each half. It was the second-highest total of his career. Bedolla topped the Lancers with three shots, all on goal.
Pucci made four saves in the opening 45 minutes to keep the game scoreless. The Longwood backstop made a diving save on a Mbamba shot to the left post in the 13th minute after Asheville's initial shot of the sequence hit off the right post. He made another big save in the 34th minute, turning away a point-blank shot from Taichi Nogami.
Up Next
The Lancers continued action in Big South play with its first home conference tilt against USC Upstate on Saturday, Sept. 26. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. from the Longwood Athletics Complex, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
