Box Score 9.4.2011

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a 1-0 double-overtime women's soccer decision at home to visiting Appalachian State University of the Southern Conference Sunday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Julia Holz scored the game-winning goal late in the second 10-minute overtime period for the Mountaineers at 108:26. It was the third consecutive double-overtime match for the Lancers (1-3-2), and second-straight setback by one goal. Longwood will play again on Friday night, September 9, hosting Tennessee Tech University of the Ohio Valley Conference at the Athletics Complex in Farmville beginning at 7 p.m. -- part of the Wounded Warrior Weekend hosted by Longwood.

Longwood and Appalachian State battled evenly in a match played during extreme heat conditions with temperatures in the high 80s at the start, and high humidity readings that made it feel like over 100 degrees on the field. The game officials even decided to stop the contest midway through each half for players to take a quick water break. It was scoreless at the intermission, through regulation and the first 10-minute extra period, and nearly another OT before Holz scored with just 1:34 left on the clock. The decisive goal was assisted by both Katy Dodd and Leah Drawdy on a bang-bang play in front of the net.

“Obviously, we're very disappointed in having our second consecutive 2OT loss,” said head coach Todd Dyer '93. “In some tough conditions with the heat and humidity; we battled, defended well, and created some good goal scoring opportunities. We're just not able to finish those chances right now and that makes it pretty hard to win soccer games. At least we know exactly what we need to work on in training, so we'll keep our heads up and get back to work at practice this week. There's definitely an opportunity for someone to step up on the offensive side of things and I'm eager to see who that is.”

Appalachian State took a 12-10 edge in shots, though Longwood led 8-6 in attempts on-goal, and the Lancers had a 7-1 advantage on corner kicks. Junior Nikki Glisson|Mechanicsville (Hanover) (two on-goal), sophomore Kelsey Pardue|Henrico (Hermitage) (one on-goal), and freshman Samantha Phillips|Chesapeake (Grassfield) (one on-goal) each took two shots, while junior keeper Kyra Byron|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) played the duration in front of the net for the Lancers with five saves. Glisson and Phillips had back-to-back excellent scoring opportunities within five minutes of each other just past the midway point of the second half that were stopped.

Amy Kolowsky played the duration for the Mountaineers with eight saves, including the two just mentioned, while Dodd (one on-goal) and Sydney Hill (three on-goal) each had four shots. ASU now leads the all-time series between the schools in the sport at 6-2, including two-straight 1-0 decisions.

Longwood has now played four double-overtime matches during the first six contests overall.  The Lancers did not play one OT match during all of last season when the program finished 11-8.

Joshua Bolt Day
It was Joshua Bolt Day for the match against Appalachian State.  Joshua, the son of Kyle and Jennifer Bolt, is a local boy who celebrated his 10th birthday this past week on August 31. He successfully battles a condition that affects the brain known as cerebral palsy. The women's soccer team first met Joshua during the spring of 2008 through an opportunity to help volunteer with him. He is unable to walk, talk, or use his hands as well as others, but he works hard and has fun learning. Joshua enjoys reading, drawing, writing, and learning high school and college level math. He loves dogs, meeting new people, horseback riding, traveling, swimming, playing outdoors, gardening, watching DVDs and playing with toy soldiers. An essential component of Joshua's program is community involvement. Longwood and his Lancers know this first hand as the Lancers started working with Joshua on a weekly basis nearly three years ago, though many wonderful volunteers have helped since 2005 when Joshua started this program. His many, many successes since then have been tremendous. Anyone interested in volunteering may contact associate head coach Steve Brdarski at 395.2354.