Fresh off his Big South Coach of the Year honor, Jon Atkinson led his men into battle last night at the Athletics Complex against Campbell in the first round of the Big South Tournament. It was a bitterly cold night, the coldest one of the season for the Lancers. The night ended up being very cold to the visiting Camels, as LU advanced to the semifinals on penalties, 4-1, after finishing regulation and extra time tied 2-2.
The match encouragingly enough for both sides, with no scoring but plenty of opportunities throughout the first 30 or so minutes of action. Then, in the 29th minute, a defensive breakdown by the Lancers led to Tunji Osifeso sprinting down the right wing, and inside the box, he crossed it to Patrick Moore, who scored past a diving Carlos Canas to make it 1-0.
It looked like Daena Bodie had scored off a corner in the final minutes of the first half, but the tally was washed out when the official said he, or someone else, had committed a foul in the box before the ball went in.
That setback didn’t spell doom, however, as Anthony Ugorji wrote another chapter in his stellar season when he scored off of his own rebound, which hit the crossbar, in the 63rd minute. Christian Keilty gave Longwood their first lead with an impressive effort in the 70th minute, striking the ball with his right foot and delivering it into the upper left corner with plenty of bend.
With 11:51 left, Jhuvon Francis headed in a Justin Franz corner kick, and the game eventually headed to overtime. In that overtime, Ugorji sat out after suffering from a cramp in the second half. The two 10-minute overtime sessions were not very kind to Longwood, with the Camels seeing their fair share of chances, but LU hung on to get to the dreaded penalty shootout.
Sam Yardley scored on his first, as did Franz, and it was 1-1 after the first round. Mike Durr scored on Ethan Hall in the top of the second, and Cameron Mulvey’s shot attempt missed after that.
Vaugh Fowler’s score and Canas’ save in the third round led to a perfect scenario for Longwood — next LU goal or Campbell miss sent them to the next round. In likely the biggest kick of his life, Rhys Cairns scored with a powerful effort to move his team on to the semifinals, and his teammates mobbed him on the field in celebration.
“This is history in the making for Longwood men’s soccer,” Atkinson said. “I’m excited, delighted for the guys. The ball fell for us tonight. It might not have been the prettiest football game … but that’s the game of soccer. What would you rather have, the chances or the goals? “As an Englishman, I’m used to a lot of penalty kick disappointments,” Atkinson said, referring to the England national team’s historical failure at penalty kicks in the World Cup. “It’s just [about] trying to keep the guys focused and put things in perspective … You’ve got to be able to compose yourself with that small period of time and just focus on your technique.”
The win, combined with second-seeded Liberty’s 1-0 win over High Point last night, sets up a clash in the semifinals between the two in-state archrivals. That game will take place on Friday in Greensboro, N.C. with a start time undetermined at press time.
