FARMVILLE, Va. – Junior midfielder Kathryn Miller was the latest Lancer to play hero, driving in the game-winning goal with less than three minutes to play to send Longwood to its third straight win, a 1-0 victory over VMI Saturday afternoon at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
Miller netted her game-winner with just 2:57 remaining on the clock after VMI (2-4) withstood an offensive barrage that saw Longwood unload a season-high 15 shots on goal by the final whistle. Keydet   goalkeeper Ceci Keppeler turned away 14 of those but could do little to stop Miller's left-footed drive from the top of the box, which resulted in her first goal of the season and first career game-winner.
 
"Credit [associate head coach Rich Stoneman] for putting Kat on that left side," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer. "She sure made him look smart with that finish from a pretty tight angle. As hard as she works, she certainly earned that moment. You could tell how much her teammates appreciate her in the manner they celebrated with her after the goal and the game."
 
The in-game and post-game celebrations have become routine for Longwood in 2017, as the Lancers are off to a 4-1 start that is the program's best since beginning the transition to the Division I level 14 seasons ago. Four different players have scored game-winning goals in those victories, and Saturday's shutout gives Longwood a Big South-leading three clean sheets on the season, all of which belong to senior goalkeeper Maria Kirby, whose 19 career shutouts are the third most in school history.
 
But even as Kirby's steadiness in goal and Longwood's trademark stifling defense have remained constants this season –both on full display Saturday by holding VMI to just three shots on goal – the Lancers have benefited in 2017 from a relentless offensive front. Against VMI the Lancers unloaded a season-high 26 shots for the second straight game, increasing their Big South-leading totals to 20.0 shots and 10.0 shots on goal per game.
 
The Keydets were able to withstand that onslaught for more than 87 minutes until Miller finally broke through with 2:57 remaining on the clock.
 
"We obviously had a lot of shots, but we need to be better in the final third and we know that," said Miller, who has taken eight of her 10 shots in her past two games. "We've been possessing well and dominating teams, but what matters is getting that final result and getting goals. We know what we need to work on, we want to be better, and we want to improve and get there by conference."
 
Longwood sophomore Emilie Kupsov has been a spark to that offensive eruption, emerging as the team's top offensive threat and engineering the sequence that led to Miller's game-winner. After peppering seven shots at VMI's net, a team-high four of which were on goal, she beat two VMI defenders at the top of the box and found Miller open on the left wing.
 
Miller needed just one dribble before she squared up with her left foot and sent her shot skipping back across the net past the outstretched hand of a diving Keppeler into the lower right corner.
 
"I got lucky," said Miller, "but I was happy about it. I was just glad we didn't have to go into overtime before we play Virginia Tech Monday. We need all the fresh legs we can get."
 
Saturday's win sets the stage for the annual showdown at Virginia Tech on Monday in Blacksburg, where Longwood will look to avenge back-to-back late-game losses against their in-state, high-major foe. And even riding a three-game win streak into that matchup, Dyer says the Lancers have plenty of room for improvement.
 
"Today was a lot tighter than it should have been, but give VMI a lot of credit for that," he said. "They were organized, disciplined and never stopped fighting defensively. We had some really good looks and opportunities to score early, and if we had capitalized the game could've looked a lot different for us.
 
"However, it's a great character-builder and opportunity to learn, so we'll use that moving forward. In the end, we had to grind out another win and we earned a shutout on our home field, and that's what it's all about at this level."
 
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