FARMVILLE, Va. – Three conference unbeatens remain for Big South men's soccer, and one of them wears blue and white.
 
Powered by a first-half scoring surge that featured goals from Ander Etxaniz, Mason Butcher and Tosin Ayokunle, high-scoring Longwood (3-5-2, 2-0-1 Big South) continued its Big South unbeaten streak with a 3-2 home win against Winthrop Wednesday afternoon at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
Showcasing an offense that entered the game as the league's scoring leader in conference play, three different Lancers scored, including Butcher and Etxaniz who found the net for the first time this season. Etxaniz's goal sparked the multi-goal outburst, which was Longwood's third in the past four games and vaulted the Lancers into second place in the Big South behind only first-place Campbell (3-0-0).
 
"It was really two different halves for us, but we're delighted with the response in the first half and how we were able to play at the level we're capable of playing at," said Longwood head coach Jon Atkinson.
 
"The second half possessed problems when we started tiring and allowing Winthrop to get footholds in the game, which then left the game in the balance. Then you're at the mercy of the other team, maybe taking that chance here and there, and that's an erroneous position to put yourself in. I thought we could have done a better job of managing the second half. But minus the first 30 seconds in the first half, once we got in a groove, found our way and played with a bit of purpose, it was some of the best football I've seen us play."
 
The effort allowed the Lancers to overcome an early mistake that allowed Winthrop to take a 1-0 lead just 27 seconds into the game after Brigham Larsen weaved his way into the Longwood third and finished off a one-on-one challenge against Lancer goalkeeper Jacob Reimers. That setback put Longwood in a hole for the first time in conference play but lasted only until Etxaniz's equalizer in the 24th minute.
 
Butcher followed Etxaniz's goal with a go-ahead strike in the 34th minute, and junior Tosin Ayokunle followed with the eventual game-winner in the 37th minute. Those three goals came within a 13-minute span and sent Longwood into halftime with a 3-1 lead, which proved enough to withstand a late charge from Winthrop that pulled the game to within one goal after Jonathan Foster scored with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
 
The win came against a Winthrop team that just four days prior routed UNC Asheville 4-0 and which has scored at least three goals in four of eight games this season – all wins. However, after Larsen's opening strike, Longwood's defense held the aggressive Eagles in check for more than 80 consecutive minutes until Foster broke the drought with 9:23 to play.
 
That would be the last threat the Eagles could generate, however, as Reimers corralled their last attempt in the final minute to preserve the win.
 
"You don't want to concede goals, but when you do, you get a chance to see a little bit of the heart and soul of where your team is," Atkinson said. "And I think, sure, there were some nerves, but to withstand that early scare, the ping-pong moments where things didn't quite fall, I think deep down the guys knew in their hearts they were playing at a good level. And sometimes you just trust in that, and you're happy.
 
"If you do everything you can do to control the game and you have 100 percent belief, even if you do fall short, there's a sense of freedom in knowing you've given 100 percent."
 
Longwood will now have three days to prepare for a high-stakes showdown against perennial Big South power High Point, which enters Saturday's home game in Farmville winners of three of the past four Big South regular-season championships. That game will kick off at 7 p.m. as the second half of a football doubleheader with the Lancer women's team, which is also unbeaten in conference play and hosts Charleston Southern at 2 p.m.
 
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