Longwood women’s soccer carried a ten-game unbeaten streak into their first Big South championship in program history, only to face the same team who last defeated them back on Sept. 23, earlier this season.
The surging Lancers marched into Greensboro, N.C. looking to knock off top-seeded High Point, who, before Sunday, represented Longwood’s last two conference losses dating back to last season.
Senior forward Meredith Dunker’s 39th minute goal was the difference in Sunday’s championship game, propelling High Point over Longwood en route to their first Big South title since 2014, and sixth all-time.
Thus, Longwood’s memorable season, including ten consecutive games with no losses, two SportsCenter Top 10 Plays, and a handful of Big South honors came to a heartbreaking end in the winner-take-all game.
After the loss, Longwood head coach Todd Dyer told his team there was nothing to hang their heads about, having outperformed their opposition.
“I told them I’m very proud of them. I thought we did everything we could to put ourselves in a position to win, and it just wasn’t good enough,” said the 2017 Big South Coach of the Year.
The Lancers relentlessly put pressure on the Panthers defense, peppering 16 shots, eight on goal, compared to High Point’s five.
Three of those shots came from senior midfielder Janese Quick, who served six corner kicks in the second half in her final game wearing a Lancer uniform.
Also in her final game of her decorated career, senior goalkeeper Maria Kirby had three saves on five shots, finishing with 89 saves on the season, third in the Big South.
Longwood finished their 2017 season with a 13-5-3 record, leading the Big South in shots with 344, allowing 12 goals all season while blanking their opponents 11 times.
Senior forward and 2017 Big South scholar-athlete award winner Teresa Fruchterman said even though the team didn’t get the result they were looking for, they instead remained positive and reflected on their remarkable feats.
“It’s the game of soccer - the better team doesn’t always win, and I think that happened in this game,” she said. “It’s one of those things that’s tough to swallow, but at the end of the day, if you put in your all and tried your best, that’s all you can ask for.”
After losing in the Big South semifinal in 2016, Dyer wanted to take it one step further in 2017, which he ultimately accomplished. Next season, being his 25th year as head coach, Dyer wants to take his program to the next level.
“We took it one step further (this year). We want to win the thing. So that’s one step further that still lies ahead of us. Nothing will be given - we got to earn it all over again, but I think the expectation is we’re going to do everything we can to get into that championship again and win it next time.”
Although the Lancers are seeing four seniors depart, including Fruchterman, Quick, Kirby and forward Jenna Tomayko, their future is bright with the bulk of their lineup returning.
As much as the team wanted to win, Dyer said his experience with his team this season was like no other, and he is excited to continue the relationships and successes into 2018.
“They’re a great group of people; they deserve all of their success. I’ll take relationships over trophies any day of the week,” said Dyer. “If they were to give us a big shiny object at the end of it and called us champion, that’s cool too. But getting to share that experience with such a great group of young women, that’s what’s important.”
Longwood women's soccer's historic season fell just short of taking the Big South Title, falling 1-0 to High Point in the conference championship in North Carolina.
Junior midfielder Kat Miller was a key part of the Lancer's breakout offense. The Lancers scored the most goals this season of the past four years.
