GREENSBORO, N.C. – On the championship stage, experience goes a long way. Sunday in the 2017 Big South Women's Soccer Championship game, it made all the difference for top-seeded High Point.
 
Playing in their third Big South Championship game in the past four years, regular season co-champion High Point (13-7-1) did just enough to outlast third-seeded Longwood 1-0 and secure the program's sixth Big South title Sunday afternoon at Bryan Park.
 
Led by an eight-save performance from Big South Tournament Most Valuable Player Alex Hank and a first-half game-winner from all-tournament selection Meredith Dunker, the Panthers snapped the Lancers' Big South-leading 10-game unbeaten streak and dealt Longwood only its fifth shutout of the season.
 
"Not the way we wanted it to end, but this has been a phenomenal season for our program," said Longwood's 24th-year head coach Todd Dyer, the 2017 Big South Coach of the Year. "We fought until the very end but just couldn't find that finishing touch in the final third. High Point got the goal they needed and managed the game very well after that."
 
Longwood (13-5-3) posted a 16-5 shooting advantage, but Hank's eight saves – including three in the second half – were enough to cap off a Big South tournament run that included a 2-0 quarterfinal win against No. 8 seed Winthrop and a 3-1 semifinal win against No. 4 seed Campbell.
 
The Big South Championship is the second for High Point's 15-member senior class and the program's sixth overall, tying Liberty for the most women's soccer titles in conference history.
 
"High Point has a lot of experience and knows how to win tight games like that," Dyer said. "We represented Longwood in a very positive way, and we will do everything in our power to get back here next year. It was a big step for us making the final, and the next step is to win the thing. I'm confident we have the pieces in place to do exactly that."
 
The Big South Championship game appearance was the first in program history for Longwood, which earned that title shot by way of a third-place finish in the regular season, a 3-0 quarterfinal win over No. 6 seed Charleston and a 2-0 blanking of No. 2 seed Liberty in Friday's semifinal.
 
Three Lancers earned spots on the Big South All-Tournament Team: defenders Sydney Wallace and Carrie Reaver, and forward Emilie Kupsov.
 
Despite the loss, the 2017 Lancers tied the Division I program records for wins (13), winning percentage (.690), shutouts (11), goals against average (0.55), fewest goals allowed (12), save percentage (.885), shots (344) and shots on goal (170).
 
Longwood's senior quartet of Teresa Fruchterman,  Maria Kirby, Janese Quick and Jenna Tomayko end their collegiate careers with a four-year record of 38-31-10 overall and 19-12-7 in Big South play, progressing the program from a ninth-place finish as freshmen to sixth place as sophomore and juniors and, finally, to 2017's third-place finish and historic journey to the Big South Championship.
 
Fruchterman became the first Lancer to earn Big South Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, while Quick twice received All-Big South recognition – including first-team honors in 2017 – and Kirby earned a pair of All-Big South awards of her own, including this year's second-team award.
 
Kirby will go down as the top goalkeeper in program history, setting Longwood's all-time Division I records for wins (30), shutouts (27), goals against average (0.82), save percentage (.841), saves (264) and minutes (5,490:52). She ranks among Longwood's top two overall in each of those categories, including the top spot on the shutouts list.
 
The Big South Championship loss signals the end of a historic 2017 season for the Lancers, who bring back eight starts in 2018, including Big South Defensive Player of the Year Sydney Wallace, Freshman of the Year Carrie Reaver, All-Big South selections Emilie Kupsov, Taylor Alvey, Kathryn Miller and Big South All-Freshman Team pick Madison Hommey.
 
#GoWood