ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A high-scoring opening half made the difference for UNC Asheville, as the Bulldogs pulled off a 2-1 home upset of third-place Longwood in the Lancers' regular-season finale Saturday at Greenwood Soccer Field.
 
Behind a third-minute strike from Taylor Gardner and a 28th-minute game-winner from Kaiya Boyd, the Bulldogs (6-10-1, 5-4-0 Big South) became only the second Big South team to defeat the Lancers this season and did so in Longwood's final tune-up before the start of the Big South Championship on Oct. 30.
 
Longwood senior Danielle Toone put Longwood on the board six minutes after Gardner's opening score with her team-leading fifth goal of the season, but the UNC Asheville defense made sure Boyd's follow-up stood to the final whistle.
 
With Longwood's Big South bye week slated for next week, the Lancers (7-7-4, 6-2-2 Big South) will now get six days to prepare for the upcoming Big South Championship tournament, for which they have already secured the No. 3 seed. That top-three seed in the six-team bracket – which the Big South will unveil late next week following the conclusion of the rest of the league schedule – guarantees Longwood quarterfinal hosting privileges against the No. 6 seed on the tournament's opening day on October 30.
 
The Lancers will enter that tournament ranked among the Big South's top four in goals and goals allowed in conference play and their lone losses coming against reigning champion High Point and UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs joined the Panthers in dealing Longwood a rare conference defeat and also became only the fourth conference squad to score multiple goals against the Lancers this season.
 
"That was a fair result and another valuable lesson leading into the conference tournament," said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer, whose Lancers have now earned top-three Big South finishes in five of their 10 seasons in the conference.
 
"We had a top-three seed locked up heading into the game, but we didn't earn that playing like we did today. Some early miscues led to goals that put us in a hole, and our response just wasn't good enough. Time for a long hard look in the mirror so we can regroup and recommit to being the team that had a phenomenal Big South season heading into these last two games."
 
The win continued an end-of-season surge for the Bulldogs as well, marking their third straight victory and elevating them into a tie for fifth place in the conference. Along with Gardner and Boyd's goals, UNC Asheville's defense limited Longwood to just five shots on goal and slowed down a Lancer frontline that entered the game averaging 1.89 goals per game.
 
Now the Lancers will await their quarterfinal matchup against the to-be-determined No. 6 seed. That game will kick off from the Longwood Athletics Complex next Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. A win would propel Longwood into the semifinals where they would face the No. 2 seed on the road.
 
#HorsePower