FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood needed someone to step up, and once again Samantha Phillips answered the call. The senior forward fired a rocket into the back of the net in the 85th minute to tie the game and propel Longwood to an eventual 1-1 tie against Western Carolina Friday evening at the Athletics Complex.

Phillips’ goal was the climax of a dominant second half for the Lancers (1-1-1), who fell behind in the 16th minute on an own goal off a Catamount corner kick. They battled back for the next 70 minutes until Phillips netted the equalizer with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. It was the second goal in crunch time this season for the Chesapeake, Va., native, who also scored the game-winner in a 2-1 season-opening victory at American.

Leading the charge up front, Phillips is emerging as one of Longwood’s most dangerous and versatile scoring threats. After scoring just four goals on 49 shots as a junior, she has now found the net twice on a team-high eight shots through her first three games of 2014.

Phillips second-half effort against Western Carolina (0-2-1) embodied that of the entire Longwood team, attacking the net and fighting for every loose ball until finally finding an opening just when it was needed.  Phillips’ goal – a line drive into the left upper 90 from the top of the penalty box – came on Longwood’s ninth shot of the second half, five of which were on goal.

Key to the comeback was Longwood’s ability to keep the ball on Western Carolina’s half of the field for the majority of the second half. That was thanks in large part to senior defender Kelsey McDonald, who controlled nearly an entire third of the field almost single-handedly before the Lancers finally broke through on the Phillips goal. With McDonald keeping the ball in Lancer possession and Phillips attacking the net, sophomore forward Gina D’Orazio was free to threat what would become the goal-creating pass to Phillips.

McDonald has been a force in the backfield for the Lancers through three games and has played heavily into Longwood holding opponents to a meager .089 shooting percentage. She and goalkeeper Hailey Machen have spent nearly every minute of the season on the field together, and the result is a stonewall of a Lancer defense that has forced opponents to send 60.0 percent of their shots off goal. After shaking off the early miscue that led to Western Carolina’s only goal, Machen batted away five shots to bring her season save up to .778.

Longwood will continue its four-game homestand next Wednesday, Sept. 3, hosting VMI at the Athletics Complex at 6 p.m. The Lancers then host ACC foe Virginia Tech on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. before beginning a four-game road trip.

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