Lancers Burn Up Nets In 6-1 Win Over FMU
Published 10:59 am Thursday, October 2, 2014
FARMVILLE — Longwood's offense exploded in a 6-1 win over Francis Marion Tuesday at the Athletics Complex as six different Lancers scored goals while Longwood outshot Francis Marion 25-7.
Included in those six goals were career firsts from senior Rebecca Soares, junior Sarah Watson and redshirt freshman Ashley Weidner. Lilly Payne also added her first goal of the season, while Samantha Phillips scored her third of the year and Olivia Colella found the net in the second straight game. The six goals are Longwood's most since a 6-0 win over Elon on September 17, 2010.
“That's a tough situation for Francis Marion, competing as a Division I independent. We have a lot of respect for their program, having been in that same boat just a few years ago,” Longwood head coach Todd Dyer said. “We were fortunate to score some goals tonight and play a lot of our players, but we also identified some areas we need to improve on moving forward.”
Longwood emptied the benches, using 28 players and splitting time evenly in goal between junior starter Hailey Machen and freshman backup Maria Kirby. In addition to receiving goals from six different players, three Lancers contributed assists, including Jayden Metzer (to Phillips in the ninth minute), Kelsey McDonald (to Watson in the 37th minute) and Kylie Dyer (to Weidner in the 85th minute).
The six goals propel Longwood to the top of the Big South charts with a conference-leading 23 goals on the year. The Lancers have scored in every game this season and have been especially dominant on the offensive end of their home field, outscoring opponents 15-8 at the Athletics Complex.
Next up for Longwood is the first of back-to-back road games, the first at Radford on Saturday at 2 p.m. and the second at High Point on October 8 at 7 p.m. “We have an extra day to heal and recover, and now it's all about Radford on Saturday,” Dyer said.