No. 10 Virginia Tech needed two late goals with under six minutes to play to fend off an upset bid and escape visiting Longwood 4-2Wednesday evening at Thompson Field.
Virginia Tech (4-0-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 19 minutes into the game, but Longwood (2-2-0) shut out the Hokies over the next 66 minutes and tied the score following back-to-back second-half goals from freshmen Amber Hodges and Kelly Almeida. It was Virginia Tech senior Ashley Meier who reclaimed the spotlight for the Hokies, however, as the three-time All-ACC pick scored her second goal of the night with 5:19 left on the clock to put Virginia Tech ahead for good.
Meier’s goal, and the ensuing insurance score from Alani Johnson in the 89th minute, erased what for the previous nine minutes was shaping up to be a momentum swing of Goliath proportions for the Lancers. After Meier and Murielle Tiernan put Virginia Tech ahead 2-0 fewer than 20 minutes into the game, Longwood’s goalkeeping duo of Maria Kirby and Hailey Machen and the Lancers’ veteran back line withstood the next 18 Virginia Tech shots over more than an hour of scoreless play. Hodges finally broke through for Longwood by finishing a cross from senior wing Lilly Payne in the 71st minute, and Almeida followed with the equalizer thanks to an assist from fellow freshman Sheyenne Stretz at 75:05. Both were the first career goals for the Lancer freshmen.
That 2-2 deadlock stood until the 84:41 mark, but Kallie Peurifoy sparked the go-ahead goal by feeding Meier in front of the Longwood net to set her up for the go-ahead shot to the lower right corner just past the outstretched arm of a diving Machen. Johnson followed four minutes later on another goal off a corner kick scrum from Jordan Coburn with under two minutes remaining to put the game away.
“I’m so proud of the Longwood team that played their guts out tonight against one of the top teams in the country,” said Longwood head coach Todd Dyer. “To come back and tie the game 2-2 late in the second half shows the character of this team. In the end we didn’t have quite enough in the tank to see the game out and get the result, but we learned plenty about this year’s group. This is not a moral victory, so we will do everything we can to improve and be even better next time out.”
Longwood’s two goals were the most Virginia Tech has allowed in a game all season, including the Hokies’ 2-1 win over 12th-ranked West Virginia. Virginia Tech’s volume shooting proved too much for the Lancers, however, as the Hokies sent 27 shots at the Lancer net, 13 of which were on target. Longwood’s goakeeping duo of Kirby and Machen saved a season-high nine of those – Longwood’s most since a nine-save, 2-1 win over Richmond on Aug. 24, 2012 – but the striking of two of Virginia Tech’s all-time scoring leaders, Meier and Tiernan, proved the difference.
Longwood will now continue its’ five-game road stretch, which next continues at Western Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by road matchups at VMI, West Virginia and Richmond.
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