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FARMVILLE – Savannah Noll and Kiersten Yuhas were dynamic, and the Longwood attack struck quickly as the Lancers took out Howard 2-0 on Monday night.

Goals (Assists)

4′ – Longwood: Kiersten Yuhas (Savannah Noll)
4′ – Longwood: Savannah Noll

How It Happened: 

Longwood (3-1) opened the match with tremendous energy and pace, and the Lancer attack took advantage of a Howard (0-3-1) defense that looked shell-shocked by the aggression.

Dynamic freshman Savannah Noll led the charge with a goal and an assist as the Lancers scored twice in a 30 second span.

The first strike came after a nice combination play down the sideline. Noll delivered the final pass to senior forward Kiersten Yuhas, and Yuhas zipped a laser home for a 1-0 lead a mere three-and-a-half minutes into the match.

Longwood kept up the high pressure immediately on the ensuing kickoff, and Noll seized the moment with a goal of her own less than 30 seconds later. The pressure forced a turnover by Howard’s Rachel Asare, and Noll pounced on the ball inside the 18 before slotting it home.

From that point on, Longwood was able to manage the game and shut down a Howard attack that had outscored opponents after halftime coming into the game.

Lancers Speak:

“That was a hard fought result on home turf,” said Longwood head coach Toddy Dyer. We got off to a great start with the two quick goals, and in the end that was all we needed. We still had to deal with a lot of pressure defensively, so the shutout feels well deserved. We’d like to manage games better in the future when we have a lead like that, but it’s all still a work in progress. Time to hit the road now.”

“From the start, as a team, we collectively said, ‘First five minutes, we’re going to put balls in the net and make it game over in the first five minutes, and then play soccer the rest of the way,'” said Yuhas about the team’s mentality at the start of the game. ”

“We didn’t expect two goals in a minute,” Yuhas said with a laugh. “But we did come out with a lot of energy. It felt pretty apparent that we were going to score soon, like it was coming right off the bat.”

“I think our pressure,” Noll said when asked what led to the pair of early goals. “In the locker room, we talked about keeping our pressure from the inside out, and when we press high and work as a team, it helps to create those chances for us to be able to step in and get ahead of the ball.”

“Honestly, I didn’t think about the goal too much in the moment,” Noll said about what it felt like to score. “But it felt really good after the fact that I was able to celebrate with my team and help us win the game.”

“The energy has to stay there, and we have to keep pushing,” Yuhas said about playing with a lead. “We have to act like it is zero to zero the whole game, even if we are up. We have to keep moving the ball and keep playing our brand of soccer, no matter what the score of the game is. We need to stay consistent through the whole 90 minute game.”

“We can keep improving by building out of the back or settling down,” Noll said about where the team can continue to grow. “Finding the simple pass and playing a one-two-touch game instead of trying to keep it and turn through people.”

Additional Notes:

Senior goalkeeper Mary Kate Levush totaled six saves for Longwood for the team’s second shutout this season.

Longwood outshot Howard 16-12, with seven of those shots on target.

Yuhas became the fifth player to score this year for Longwood.

Savannah Noll joins Catharine Forst as the only two Lancers with multiple goals.

Longwood is still unbeaten at home against Howard in the Division I era, going 8-0-2 against the Bison.

Up Next for the Lancers: 

Longwood heads out for its first road test of the season with a trip to the College of Charleston on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.