The Longwood women’s soccer team is set to square off against the Liberty Flames on Friday night, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.
The No. 3 Lancers advanced after beating the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 27 in the quarterfinals.
Longwood and Liberty played on Oct. 18 in Farmville, in what at the time was a battle for first place in the Big South. The Lancers shutout the Flames and tied a season high, scoring three goals.
Sophomore forward Emilie Kupsov scored one of her six goals of the year in that win against Liberty.
When talking about the offensive approach to the game, Kupsov said, “All I can say is that we’re gonna go at them.”
She emphasized the offense will “do anything we can” to generate an attack.
The Flames offense was carried by senior midfielder Isabella Habuda, who had six goals and four assists. The attack also features the preseason attacker of the year, fellow senior Jennifer Knoebel as a forward. Despite a disappointing senior year so far, Knoebel has the potential to score anytime she has the ball.
The matchup will also be a showdown between the top two goalkeepers in the conference, Longwood senior Maria Kirby (.55 goal against average and 88.4% save percentage) and Liberty freshman Melody Jayroe (.76 goal against average and 88.3% save percentage).
The Longwood women's soccer head coach Todd Dyer said, “We just want to stay in character. We respect Liberty, but we’re not gonna change a whole lot just because we play them.”
So far, the Lancers' style of play allowed the team to finish third in goals scored (26) and fewest goals allowed (11) in the conference. Both of which ranks better than Liberty, who was fifth (19) and third (18).
Longwood is in their sixth season since joining the Big South, and this will be their third trip to the semifinals, but they're still looking for the first appearance in the championship game.
They reached the semifinals in 2012 when the team lost to Radford 2-0, and in 2016, before falling to eventual champion High Point Panthers.
If Longwood can defeat the Flames on Friday night, then they will play in the Big South Championship on Sunday Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.
