FARMVILLE, Va. – Junior Anthony Ugorji/Washington, D.C. found the back of the net in the final seconds of regulation to propel the Longwood University men’s soccer team to a 2-1, comeback victory against Big South Conference opponent Winthrop University (9-5-1, 3-4-0) on Saturday evening at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Sophomore Christian Keilty/Spotsylvania scored his first career goal earlier in the second half to knot the score at 1-1 before sending a long pass up the field to Ugorji, who played it in for the win. The Lancers improved to 6-5-3 overall and 5-1-1 in the Big South, including an unbeaten 3-0-1 in home league matches. Longwood will travel to Big South and in-state rival Liberty University on Tuesday, October 29 for a match beginning at 6 p.m.

“It was a fantastic night to be a Lancer,” said head coach Jon Atkinson. “With a hearty crowd on hand and making themselves heard, our lads served up an exciting game. Credit to Winthrop, who made it an enthralling encounter. While I feel their goal was against the run of play, they had good moments throughout the game and will be a player come tournament time. Goals are the lifeblood of teams and we had the chance to lead seconds into the game, but instead we conceded and had to claw our way back. Give credit to the players because they did just that and managed to get our Big South journey back on track. This is the time of year that tests resolve and a win here is just what we needed, as we prepare for a fast-improving Liberty team.”

The Lancers pushed down the field on their first possession, as Ugorji fielded a long pass and sent a shot high above the net. The squads battled for almost 10 minutes without a shot before Winthrop gained the momentum with a pair of corner kicks. On the squad’s first attempt, Jordi Lluch sent a header wide left, but the Eagles converted on their second chance with a shot from the left side of the box by Achille Obougou that found its way past diving freshman keeper Carlos Canas/Manassas to give WU an early, 1-0 edge. The Lancers came close to retaliating just over four minutes later on a cross to sophomore Philip van Berkom/Zetten, the Netherlands for a header on target, but it rolled directly to goalkeeper Fabian Broich. Winthrop threatened to add to its lead on a free kick that bounced off a pair of Eagles’ heads and into the net before the squad was called offsides. Longwood outshot Winthrop, 3-0, in the final minutes of the half, including a hard attempt on goal by van Berkom that was tipped just wide by the opposing keeper, sending the Lancers into the break facing a 1-0 deficit.

Freshman Michael Margulis/Ashburn launched a shot from 22 yards out that curved wide right to open the second half. On the team’s next possession, freshman Nnamdi Ikeazor/Lagos, Nigeria took a chance from the right side of box that sailed high. After several minutes of back-and-forth action, WU’s Pol Sole fired from 35 yards out through traffic, but Canas was able to make the stop. With just over 23 minutes remaining, the Eagles came close to striking again, as Adiano Negri dribbled down the left side and tipped a shot behind Canas, but it rolled just outside of the post. Longwood knotted the score in the 70th minute during a scramble in box, as the ball ricocheted off a defender to Keilty for the putback to make it 1-1. Longwood attempted to pull ahead on a corner play and a free kick, but both chances went wide. The game-winner came with just 29 seconds left in regulation when Keilty booted a long pass up the field to Ugorji, who fired a hard kick that deflected off a defender and slowly rolled to the corner of the net to seal the 2-1 victory for the Lancers.

“Christian Keilty got the ball and I just wanted to make a run, so he found me,” said Ugorji. “I just finished it off because it was too good of a ball not to finish. Games like this are the definition of our team. We fought from behind and we knew we were in this game if we kept fighting and chipping away at it. We believed we could get a result because we knew we could match this team. We gave up an early goal, but we wanted to keep fighting and keep our heads up. Results like this are great, especially as we get later into conference play.”

Longwood outshot Winthrop, 11-9, with a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Saturday’s match marked just the seventh meeting ever between Longwood and Winthrop in the sport of men’s soccer. The Eagles still hold a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series.

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