FARMVILLE, Va. – Samantha Phillips put a fitting end to her career the Longwood Athletics Complex, scoring her third game-winning goal of the season to lead Longwood past UNC Asheville, 3-0, Saturday on senior night.
 
Phillips, who leads Longwood in goals, points and shots, kickstarted an onslaught of first-half scoring with her seventh goal of the year just 4:31 into the game. She launched the game-winner from 24 yards out at the top of the penalty arc to give the Lancers a lead they would hold the rest of the way.
 
"I love this team. I love our seniors," said head coach Todd Dyer, whose daughter Kylie Dyer, a senior midfielder on the team, was honored alongside Phillips and fellow seniors Taylor Cave, Kelsey McDonald and Rebecca Soares before the game. "I love the fact that they were honored with a shutout victory in their last home game ever. And to play well against a quality UNC Asheville team makes it even more rewarding. Now with one game to play, we're still alive and right in the tournament mix."
 
Phillips' goal was one of three in the first half for the Lancers (9-8-1, 3-5-1 Big South), who entered the game in eighth place in the Big South standings but just one game out of a top-six spot. With the win, Longwood leaps UNC Asheville (9-8-1, 3-5-1 Big South) to seventh place in the league standings, putting the Lancers inside the eight-team bubble of Big South Tournament qualifiers.
 
"Honestly, this season has been crazy. It's not something we've been used to so far," said Phillips, who helped Longwood capture back-to-back third-place Big South finishes in 2012 and 2013. "We've finished in the top half our first two years in the Big South, so I think it was kind of a shock early for us this year. As we continued, we knew we weren't where we wanted to be but we knew we were still in it. We can still make it to the tournament, and if we make it to the tournament we can still win."
 
Only one more game remains on Longwood's schedule, a road contest at rival Liberty this Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. It will be a tough matchup for the Lancers, as Liberty is gunning for an undefeated season in conference play and enters the matchup with a 7-0-1 league record.
 
Going in Longwood's favor, however, is the momentum generated by the team's most successful stretch of the season. The Lancers have lost just one of their last five games with two shutouts during that span, both of which have been credited to junior goalkeeper Hailey Machen. Machen picked up her fourth shutout of the year tonight after compiling six saves against the Bulldogs.
 
There was little pressure on Machen in the second half as her offense built a comfortable lead before the break. Olivia Colella followed up Phillips' goal with one of her own off a corner kick in the 34th minute, and Lilly Payne came through just before the end of the half with another score that came from a scrum in front of the net.
 
McDonald helped keep the attention off the Longwood goal, playing the entire game without a sub for the 12th time this season. It will be the final time that the Lancer faithful will get to see McDonald play at home, closing out a career in which she has made 71 starts and played nearly 6,000 minutes.
 
"It was really exciting and happy," said Phillips about playing her final home game alongside her fellow seniors. "From what I've seen in the past, it's been sad, like the seniors don't want to leave. But it's so exciting because I do think we have so much more ahead of us."
 
The regular season finale against Liberty awaits Longwood Tuesday. With a win, the Lancers can potentially jump to as high as the No. 5 seed for the Big South quarterfinal on Nov. 1.
 
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