Recapping Liberty
Longwood scored the only goal of the contest at 17:31 on a successful penalty kick by junior Kelsey Pardue|Henrico (Hermitage). The PK was awarded to the Lancers after freshman Olivia Colella|Herndon (Chantilly) was knocked down in the box. It remained a one-goal game at the intermission, and the two teams battled scoreless through the second period, as well. Neither squad had a good look at the goal in the second half, though Liberty did manage seven corner kicks. The Flames had a 12-8 advantage in shots, though Longwood had a 6-4 edge in attempts on goal, and Liberty had a 9-3 lead on corner kicks. Pardue had three shots, two on goal, and senior captain Lindsey Ottavio|Fairfax (W.T. Woodson) had two shots, both on goal, for the Lancers. Senior keeper Kyra Byron|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) played the duration in front of the net with the four saves and was aided on the team’s 10th shutout by senior defensive stalwarts (captain) Natalie Massey|Virginia Beach (Landstown) and Chelsea Walter|South Riding (Freedom), sophomores Taylor Cave|Virginia Beach (Kellam) and Rebecca Soares|Virginia Beach (Kempsville), along with freshmen Meghan Magee|Virginia Beach (Bayside), Alana Mackey|Leesburg (Loudoun County) and Katie Beebe|Round Hill (Woodgrove).
 |
| Senior Captian Lindsey Ottavio |
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“Going into the game, we needed a tie or a win to finish in the top four of the league and host a first round game of the tournament. We grinded out a tough 1-0 result against a strong Liberty team and a lot of that credit should go to how we defended as a group after converting the penalty kick. Now we get to embrace our first postseason opportunity in the Big South and see how far it takes us.”
Recapping VMI
Longwood controlled the Senior Night match against VMI and led 1-0 at the intermission after Olivia Colella scored the opening goal at 11:39, beating the keeper one-on-one with a shot to the lower left corner of the net after taking a pass from senior Nikki Glisson|Mechanicsville (Hanover). Colella added an insurance goal for the Lancers in the 64th minute when she collected a pass in the box and beat the keeper left once again. Kelsey Pardue had fed a nice ball into the box to sophomore Kylie Dyer|Farmville (Prince Edward County) who deflected it on to Colella for the finish at 63:45. Longwood had a 19-6 advantage in shots, including 10-4 in attempts on goal, and it was an 8-4 edge on corner kicks. Lindsey Ottavio had six shots, two on goal, while Colella had four shots, all of which were on goal. Kyra Byron played the first 87:33 in front of the net for the Lancers with four saves and junior keeper Shelby Hall|Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) finished the final 2:27, as the hosts posted another shutout.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“A win on Senior Night always feels good in that we’re able to honor those players who have done so much for our program. We got behind them consistently, but only managed two goals to show for it. However, the way we defended made those two stand for a solid win at home and our seniors are able to go out in style.”
Senior Night
A special pre-game recognition ceremony took place prior to the VMI contest for seniors Kyra Byron, Nikki Glisson, Natalie Massey, Lindsey Ottavio and Chelsea Walter. This group has a combined four-year record of 40-28-6 (.581).
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“This class is going out as one of the most talented and accomplished groups in the history of our women’s soccer program at the Division I level. However, their greatest contribution to Longwood is the standard they set and lived by with regard to their character and commitment on the soccer field, in the classroom and within the community. It is only fitting that this special group of young women had the honor of representing Longwood in our first-ever season of Big South Conference play this fall. They have taken full advantage of this opportunity, yet their best work still lies ahead after graduation. With that in mind, we extend a very heartfelt ‘thank you’ for all of their hard work and we wish them well as they move forward.”
Recapping Radford
Longwood and Radford battled through a scoreless opening period. The Lancers, however, did have a 7-3 edge in shots at the intermission. The two teams continued their scoreless match through the second 45 minutes and regulation ended with the visitors enjoying a 21-11 advantage in shots. Each team had a late scoring opportunity in regulation, but could not move the net. Longwood and the Highlanders played for two additional 10-minute overtime periods with no goals. Neither team had a good look in the first extra period, but RU had an opportunity early in the second OT that was stopped, before the Lancers nearly scored in the final seconds. Longwood had a 27-19 advantage in shots, though only 6-5 in attempts on goal, and the Lancers led 10-6 on corner kicks. Kelsey Pardue had five shots, three on goal, and Nikki Glisson had four shots, one on goal, while Kyra Byron played the duration in front for the Lancers with five saves en route to the shutout.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“That was probably our grittiest performance of the season thus far and we needed it against a very strong Radford team. We created several good chances to win the game, but their keeper was rock-solid and kept us out.”
Leading The Lancers
Kelsey Pardue leads Longwood in scoring through 19 matches with seven goals and six assists totaling 20 points. Lindsey Ottavio (two goals, five assists) and sophomore Kelsey McDonald|Kennett Square, Pa. (Unionville) (three goals, three assists) each add nine points. Kylie Dyer and Olivia Colella each have three goals and one assist for seven points. Sophomore Samantha Phillips|Chesapeake (Grassfield) and freshman Haylea Witz|Chesapeake (Grassfield) each have two goals for four points. Nikki Glisson has one goal and one assist for three points. Freshman Bridget Bergquist|Bristow (Brentsville) and Alana Mackey each add one goal for two points. Taylor Cave and Meghan Magee each have one assist totaling one point. Kyra Byron has played 1612 minutes in front of the net, while allowing only 14 goals (0.78) with 70 saves (.833) and 8.66 shutouts. Shelby Hall has played 125 minutes in front of the net, while allowing three goals (2.16) with nine saves (.750) and 0.66 shutouts. Redshirt-sophomore Dana Wallace|Charlottesville (Home Schooled) has played 12 minutes in front of the net with 0.33 shutouts.
In The Record Book
Kyra Byron ranks second in career goals against average (37-0.80), is tied for third in shutouts (15), and fifth in minutes (4175), saves (173) and wins (23). Lindsey Ottavio is third in career points (60) and tied for third in goals (24). Kelsey Pardue is fourth in career assists (19) and seven in points (51).
NCAA Division I RPI
Longwood is ranked 132nd among 323 Division I schools that sponsor the sport of women’s soccer, as of Oct. 22. The Lancers are the second-highest rated school from the Big South Conference, behind only Radford (121). Other league members among the top-200 include High Point (140), Campbell (156), Coastal Carolina (164), Winthrop (178) and Liberty (183).
NCAA/Big South Statistics
Longwood ranked 29th in Division I shutout percentage (.500), 53rd in winning percentage (.694), 70th in goals against average (0.92) and 82nd in save percentage (.815) through Oct. 21. Kelsey Pardue ranked 28th in game-winning goals (4), 87th in assists (6) and 149th in points (18). Kyra Byron ranked 51st in goals against average (0.83), 65th in save percentage (.825), 96th in minutes (1522) and 145th in saves (66). Lindsey Ottavio ranked 141st in assists (5). In Big South-only matches (11), the Lancers are second in goals allowed (6), goals against average (0.53) and shutouts (7). Kelsey Pardue is first in game-winning goals (4), tied for fourth in goals (6) and points (17), and tied for sixth in assists (5). Kyra Byron is second in shutouts (5), third in goals against average (0.56) and save percentage (.867), and eighth in saves (39). Olivia Colella is tied for third in game-winning goals (2). Lindsey Ottavio is tied for ninth in assists (4).
Big South … Here We Are
Longwood played 11-straight Big South contests from Sept. 20 to Oct. 23. The Big South Conference Tournament will include the top eight teams playing quarterfinal matches at the four highest seeds on Oct. 27, followed by semifinal matches on November 2 and the tournament championship contest on Nov. 4, hosted by Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Big South Conference/Attacking Player Of The Week
Kelsey McDonald was named the Big South Conference Attacking Player Of The Week Oct. 9 for her efforts during two conference wins against Winthrop on Oct. 4 and Gardner-Webb on Oct. 6. She is Longwood’s fourth Big South Player of the Week (see below). McDonald scored two goals, including one game-winner, and added one assist to lead Longwood to a pair of Big South home wins. The Lancers defeated the Eagles 2-1 in overtime as she scored the first goal in the 22nd minute, finishing a well-played through ball on the left side to help the team to a 1-0 advantage at the intermission, and provided the assist on the game-winning goal in the 94th minute when she delivered a nice ball into the box from the left side once again. McDonald capped her outstanding week with the first and game-winning goal in the 26th minute of a 2-0 win against the Bulldogs, collecting a loose ball in the box and finishing with a hard shot into the back of the net.
Big South Conference/Attacking Player Of The Week
Kelsey Pardue was named the Big South Conference Attacking Player Of The Week Sept. 25 for her efforts during the 4-0 home win against UNC Asheville on Sept. 20 and the 2-1 overtime home win against Presbyterian on Sept. 22. She is Longwood’s third Big South Player of the Week (see below). Pardue scored three goals -- two game-winners -- and added two assists to lead Longwood to a pair of Big South wins. She was involved in all four scores against UNC Asheville, scoring the first and game-winning goal in the fourth minute with a hard shot into the net after a feed into the box. Pardue returned the favor when she fed the ball in from the left side on the game’s second goal in the 12th minute, and added another assist as she played a through-ball in for a successful shot in the 19th minute. She completed the scoring outburst when she got free down the middle of the field and beat the keeper one-on-one in the 21st minute. Pardue capped her outstanding week with the game-winning goal in OT against Presbyterian. She tallied the game-winner in the 105th minute when she dribbled up the middle through traffic and shot successfully to the right upper 90. Pardue was also named the College Sports Madness Big South Player of the Week.
Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week
Kyra Byron was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player Of The Week Sept. 11 for her effort during a 1-0 shutout road victory at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Sept. 9. She is Longwood’s second Big South Player of the Week. Byron posted six saves for the Lancers against the Retrievers with five of her saves in the second half, including four after Longwood had taken a one-goal advantage.
Big South Conference/Attacking Player Of The Week
Lindsey Ottavio was named the Big South Conference Attacking Player Of The Week August 28 for her effort during the 2-1 double-overtime home win past Richmond on August 24. She is Longwood’s first Big South Player of the Week since the school joined the conference on July 1. Ottavio scored two unassisted goals, including the game-winner just 50-seconds into the second extra period to lead the Lancers (3-1) past the Spiders. She scored her first goal in the 65th minute, taking the ball through the middle of the box while beating both a defender and the keeper with a shot to the left side of the net at 64:35. Ottavio finally ended the well-played match at 100:50 when she took a loose ball in the box and once again beat the keeper with a hard shot to the left side for the sudden victory. She was also named the College Sports Madness Big South Player of the Week.
Big South Network
Longwood produced its first-ever Big South Network live video-streamed broadcast against UNC Asheville on Sept. 20. The Big South Network is the official video provider for all Big South Conference games. Each member institution is required to produce broadcasts for home events to be streamed via the conference network. The Lancers have streamed three women’s soccer matches this fall, including the matches against visiting Winthrop University (Oct. 4) and VMI (Oct. 20), and the Big South Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Quarterfinal against Liberty (Oct. 27) will also be streamed. The Big South Network has an archive of on-demand videos that can be viewed for free. A paid subscription is required to view live events, with both single-game and season passes available. You can view the Longwood Lancers TV page to watch all of the Lancers’ webcasts and see a schedule of upcoming events by visiting www.longwoodlancers.com or www.bigsouthsports.com.
No Place Like Home
Longwood is now 48-15-2 (.754) on its home turf at the Athletics Complex since beginning competition at the facility in 2006. The Lancers, 8-1 at home this season, are 41-14-1 (.741) in Farmville since attaining its NCAA Division I certification and eligibility for 2007.
2012 Captains
Lindsey Ottavio is serving as a team captain for the second consecutive season, while Natalie Massey is in the team leadership role for the first time.
Youth Being Served
Ten freshmen and/or sophomores have made starts through 16 matches. The Lancers have nine true sophomores and 10 true freshmen among their 28-player roster, and all 19 of them have seen action this season.
Coaching Milestone: 200 Career Wins
Todd Dyer ‘93, enjoying his 19th year as the founder and head coach of the Longwood women’s soccer program, now has an overall record of 206-124-21, including 14 winning seasons. A former standout midfielder at Longwood, he served as a team captain for two years and scored 15 goals during his four years, earning All-Virginia Intercollegiate Soccer Association (VISA) honors as a senior. A native of Manassas, Dyer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Longwood in 1993. He also coached the Longwood men’s soccer program for seven years (1996-2002), compiling a record of 75-53-7.
Quoting Head Coach Todd Dyer
“200 is a nice milestone and what it really reflects is that I’ve been fortunate to do what I love, at a place I love, for a long, long time. I’m blessed to have had the privilege of working with so many great people these past 19 years. Our program’s future is very bright due to all of their hard work.”
The Coaching Staff
Head coach Todd Dyer is assisted by associate head coach Steve Brdarski, in his ninth season at Longwood.
Up Next Week
Longwood hopes to advance to the Big South Conference Women’s Soccer Championship semifinals on Nov. 2 and the tournament championship contest on Nov. 4, hosted by Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for adding to the Virginia Online Soccer News discussion.