FARMVILLE, Va. – The Big South's leading goal scorer Abbie Ellis converted a penalty kick for the only goal of the game to lead No. 6 seed USC Upstate to a 1-0 upset win over No. 3 seed Longwood in the quarterfinals of the Big South Championship Saturday afternoon at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
Ellis drew a contact foul in Longwood's penalty box in the 31st minute and took advantage of the best scoring opportunity of the game for either team, drilling a right-footed shot into Longwood's net that stood as her conference-leading fifth game-winner of the season.
 
That goal was Ellis' 15th of the season and provided all the cushion the Spartans (11-8) needed to outlast a Longwood team that entered the tournament on a run of six wins in the past seven games and eyeing a return to the Big South Championship game for the second straight year. However, USC Upstate dashed those ambitions with a defensive effort that featured four saves from goalkeeper Logan Pace and a 15-12 shot advantage that marked the first time in 10 games that an opponent outshot Longwood.
 
"Obviously we are very disappointed right now," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer. "That's a tough result to digest, but if we're honest with ourselves, we have to admit that was not our best effort or performance. Upstate competed very hard, took the initiative early in the game and probably got what they deserved."
 
The Lancers (8-7-3), who secured the No. 3 seed by way of a 6-2-2 Big South record during the regular season, struggled to create scoring opportunities against the Spartans, managing just four shots on goal en route to being shut out for only the second time since conference play began on Sept. 19. All-Big South first team forward Emilie Kupsov fired a team-high five shots but could not break through a USC Upstate defense anchored by 90-minute defenders Autumn Gore and Courtney Cranmer.
 
Longwood's defense countered USC Upstate's defensive effort by fending off the Spartans' six shots on goal – including five saves from sophomore goalkeeper Madison Van Dyke – but the in-box collision between Ellis and two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Year Sydney Wallace was just enough to give the Spartans a one-on-one attempt at the net. Van Dyke guessed to her right on the shot, but Ellis sent her shot the other way for an untouched goal.
 
Wallace and the Lancers held USC Upstate off the board the rest of the way, but the Spartans held on over the game's final 60 minutes as well, including an endgame flurry in which they blocked Wallace's 87th-minute header in the box and watched Kupsov's bullet from outside the box go just wide with 30 seconds to play.
 
The loss makes Saturday's game the swansong for Longwood's seven-member senior class of Kelly Almeida, Annie Boros, Amber Hodges, Kathryn Miller, Paige Robertson, Sheyenne Stretz and Sydney Wallace. All seven of those Lancers played Saturday and ended their career with a four-year record of 46-29-10 overall and 21-12-7 in Big South play. They are the first Longwood class to advance to four consecutive Big South Championship tournaments, reaching the championship game in 2017 and the semifinals twice.
 
"The toughest part for us at this moment is that it's all over for this particular group, and we have to say goodbye to our seniors," Dyer said. "And this senior group has been exceptional in their character, leadership, love and loyalty to this program. This one result will not define them, this team or this season. It just wasn't meant to be for us this year, so we'll get back to work when the dust settles."
 
With those seven seniors departing, Longwood will return 19 letterwinners in 2019, including seven starters and the rising senior class of Kupsov, Taylor Alvey and Erica Sieben.
 
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