FARMVILLE, Va. – You can't spell heartbreaker without heart.
In a near upset that came down to the wire, No. 20 James Madison (6-2-0) survived a Goliath-sized effort by Longwood and scored the game-winning goal with 25 seconds left on the clock to sneak out of the Athletics Complex with a 1-0 win Tuesday night.
That goal came off the foot of reigning United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week Manuel Ferriol, who emerged from a final-minute scrum in front of Longwood's net to punch in his NCAA-leading ninth goal of the season and break open a scoreless deadlock that lasted for the first 89:35 of the contest.
"That's the heartbreak of the game sometimes," said Longwood head coach
Jon Atkinson. "You have to wear it, and you have to move on. With the team we have, I feel we certainly will."
That goal deflated an otherwise staunch effort from the Lancers (3-3-0), who shut down the Dukes' vaunted offense and held them to a season-low three total shots on goal for the game.
"I'm super proud of the effort," Atkinson said. "There are some disappointed people tonight, and all for the right reasons. We have a good team that works hard for each other, and that's going to give us a good foothold in every game. The challenge is going to be to recover from this and get ready for Gardner-Webb."
In taking James Madison to the wire, Longwood nearly put another feather in its cap during a strong non-conference performance that has seen them emerge as one of the top all-around teams in the Big South. The conference leader in both goals per game and goals against average, the Lancers became only the second team to hold James Madison to single-digit goals during its six-game win streak, joining former No. 1 Wake Forest whom James Madison upset 1-0 just one week prior.
"James Madison has a few ways to hurt you, and I think the first 10 minutes opened our eyes to how fast they can play and how quickly we have to react to keep them at bay," Atkinson said. "It took us 10 minutes to adjust, but that's a good takeaway for our team. If we want to be up there with these types of teams, we have to match that and more. There's potential for us to grow there as a team."
Ferriol's game-winner put to rest a wild final seven minutes that featured a combined five shots, including Longwood freshman
Eli Carr's 86th-minute rocket that ricocheted off the James Madison post to the feet of
Filip Hinge, whose follow-up attempt sailed high over the net.
However, the post would come into play once again, this time in James Madison's favor to set up Ferriol's goal. A Duke throw-in into the box deflected off a Longwood defender on a contested header, hit the post and bounced in front of an open net where Ferriol met it first and stuck it into the lower right corner of the net.
The goal was only the fourth Longwood has allowed in four home games this year.
"Ultimately JMU's one of the best teams in this area and in the country," Atkinson said. "Albeit we had to formulate a plan to make sure we kept in it, going toe-to-toe with them, there's a lot to take from that. Going forward, I think we can open up our offense a bit more with the threats we have. That's just about having the ability and leadership to find the times in games to do that.
Next up for the Lancers is the Big South opener against Gardner-Webb, which will send them to Boiling Springs, N.C., this Saturday, Sept. 28, for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
#GoWood
