September 10, 2011

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University men's soccer team tied James Madison University of the Colonial Athletic Association 3-3 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Sophomore Nick Surkamp|Manassas (Osbourn Park) scored one goal with one assist, while senior goalkeeper Joel Helmick|Springfield (W.T. Woodson) recorded a season-high eight saves in goal for the Lancers (1-2-1) against the Dukes (2-0-1). Longwood is back in action on Tuesday, September 13, when it travels to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference at 7 p.m.

James Madison struck first at 20:25, but Longwood answered at 21:56 when freshman Zack Crandall|Lorton (South County Secondary) re-directed a throw-in from Surkamp into the upper-right corner to tie the game at 1-1. JMU pushed ahead on a goal by Patrick Innes at 24:08 and led 2-1 at halftime.

The Lancers fought back in the second half, led by Surkamp who scored on a penalty kick at 47:58 to tie the match at 2-2. Longwood took the lead for the first time at 77:09 when senior Zach Mahon|San Antonio, Texas (William Howard Taft) used his head to send a cross from sophomore Jared Windt|Haymarket (Battlefield) into the goal. The Lancers' defense held firm, with junior Michael Tegler|Stafford (North Stafford) making a brilliant save on the goal line on a shot in the 81st minute to preserve the lead. JMU tied the match at 82:41 on a header by Adam Bastidas off a free kick. Crandall had a header attempt stopped by the Dukes' goalkeeper in the 85th minute, then senior Chris Saul|Pasadena, Md. (Chesapeake) had a shot stopped in the 88th minute. Helmick made a trio of saves in the final five minutes of regulation to preserve the tie.

In the first overtime, the Longwood defense held firm in the first four minutes, as Helmick made another save and a Lancer defender made a lunge to clear a ball on the goal line to keep the score tied 3-3. In the second overtime, in the 108th minute, Surkamp collected a ball after a long corner kick and sent a hard shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and down onto the goal line before bouncing out into the field.

“That was a good result for us today,” said Longwood head coach Jon Atkinson. “The difference between our team today, and earlier this year, was discipline and good, hard team play. It was great for us to get back, it would have been even better for us to finish it in regulation. We'll take this moral victory against a strong team in JMU, which is the standard we try to meet. The boys deserve everything they get. They have worked their socks off getting ready for this.”

JMU outshot Longwood 21-9 and had a 3-1 advantage on corner kicks. Crandall paced the Lancers with three shots, including two shots on goal, while Surkamp attempted two shots. Helmick stopped eight shots and allowed three goals in 110 minutes in goal. JMU was paced by Bastidas with two goals while Innes scored one goal with one assist on a match-high five shots. Justin Epperson made three saves while playing the duration in goal for the Dukes.