2012 was seen as a rebuilding year for the men’s soccer team atLongwood, a year where the Lancers were coming off of an AtlanticSoccer Conference championship but lost their leading goalscorer, Nick Surkamp, to a transfer. They had three wins last year, two of which occurred in Big South matches.
LU, ranked eighth in the Big South heading into the season by the coaches in the conference, started with two preseason matches – a 6-1 loss at UNC Wilmington and a 1-0 loss to William & Mary at home in the G.A.M.E. 4.0. The game against the Tribe saw a crowd of hundreds take in an intense contest, where the Lancers fell in the 78th minute on a Jackson Eskay goal.
This weekend, the Lancers started their regular season slate in the city of Pittsburgh against Duquesne. The Dukes struck early on theirhome turf, as Alex Healion put one past junior keeper Paul Hegedus just 2:04 into Longwood’s season. Barely 17 minutes later, Karter Sell broke away and connected to double the Duquesne lead. The score remained 2-0 until the 51st minute, when Isaiah Noriega fed Josh Ellis, whose shot deflected in off the crossbar. 11th-year head coach Jon Atkinson didn’t mince words to the university’s official athletics website afterward, saying, “The nature of this defeat is what will sting. You can live with disappointments, but not regrets and the lads will feel this one.
“The game itself was within reach throughout, but basic errors out of the gate cost us dearly and put us in a hole unnecessarily. This affected the rhythm since we had to play catch-up. Some of this was reflected in the shot selection, taking low-percentage, long-range efforts.” Although the final line that mattered wasn’t in LU’s favor, the team could take solace that they outshot the Dukes 14-8 throughout the contest.
Things went better for them on Sunday against the ACC’s Pittsburgh, but not by that much. Hegedus’ seven stops on 20 Pitt attempts throughout regulation and 20 minutes of overtime were enough for a 0-0 road draw. The Lancers themselves had five shots against the Panthers, two of which came courtesy junior back Daena Bodie.
“I can't be more proud of the effort, commitment and discipline [we] showed,” Atkinson said. “Ignore the stats …We kept them [Pittsburgh] to two good chances and generated a few great chances ourselves.
“The game itself may have lacked quality, but there was a ton of substance and showed a discipline that we can build on in future games. This is still a very young team, but today they earned a big slice of experience in readiness for the season ahead.”
That experience will indeed come in handy as the next part of the schedule begins. The squad starts a four-game home stand on Sunday morning against IUPUI (Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis) at 11 a.m. After that, they have five days off before welcoming Davidson next Saturday at 3 p.m. Big South play doesn’t begin for the Lancers until Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. when the Panthers of High Point come to town. Overall, Zach Crandall leads the team with five shots. Ben Ferrell is in second with three and four players are tied for third.
