Miezan hat trick helps Lancers begin with a win
Longwood responds to another late goal with two in the last eight minutes of play
Halle Parker | Sports Editor | @_HalParker
With two exhibitions under his belt, Longwood redshirt freshman forward Willy Miezan came off the bench to score a hat trick in his first official NCAA-sanctioned game, leading the Lancers to their 4–1 win at home against the Virginia Military Institute’s Keydets (VMI) (0–1–0) on Friday night.
“Willy’s (Miezan) a spark plug. He’s fit very well on the team, has a great personality, good head on his shoulders, and shows some great composure,” said men’s soccer head coach Jon Atkinson.
Miezan scored the first goal of the night off a corner, getting a touch within the chaos of the box on the ball sent across the net by junior midfielder Finnlay Wyatt. The goal put Longwood (1–0–0) up 1–0 going into halftime.
Eight minutes into the second half, senior forward Zach Crandall turned and drilled a shot to the far post and strengthened the lead to 2–0. Miezan credited Crandall with helping to lead the attack, saying he “could have had a hat trick himself.”
Longwood held the lead for the majority of the half until a late goal by VMI closed the gap to 2–1, similar to Longwood’s previous match against the University of Mary Washington.
“At this level, teams will take advantage of mistakes and I think that was an example of where we just hurt ourselves,” said Atkinson.
Ten minutes before the final buzzer, VMI sophomore defender Todd Johnson fired a low shot on target that was blocked and parried by Longwood senior goal keeper Carl Carpenter. VMI sophomore midfielder Campbell Wood finished the rebound, ending the idea of Longwood shutout.
Unlike in the Mary Washington game, the Lancers responded with two goals of their own.
Two minutes after the VMI goal, Miezan controlled a cross from senior midfielder Zach Corcoran and scored. After another minute passed, Miezan finished his trio of goals by beating his defender and driving his shot near post.
“Coach told me, ‘just go out there, make your runs, demand the ball, put it in the back of the net.’ That’s what I try to do,” said Miezan.
With little more than seven minutes left in the game, Longwood returned to a comfortable lead as the score read 4–1 in their favor.
“It’s always disappointing to concede, especially when it was something that we did to ourselves. We need to manage the game a little bit better in the closing minutes, but it was good to see the guys respond with that little bit of adversity,” said Atkinson.
The final score reflected how the Lancers outshot the Keydets 22–8. Longwood senior defender Michael Durr felt the team should have finished even more of their chances.
“We outshot them 22 to eight which any odds are always good, obviously you want those odds. I felt like we should’ve scored more than 4–1. Obviously, on the goal, I’ll take all the responsibility for that but can’t complain. We got four goals in the back of the net, at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for,” said Durr.
By the end of regulation, Longwood had earned their first official win against their first Division I opponent of the 2015 season, beginning their record on the positive side.
Longwood will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina this to face the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG) Spartans at 7 pm for their first away game on Thursday, September 4.
Last season, the two teams played in Farmville and tied 2–2 after UNCG came back from a 2–0 first half deficit to match the Lancers in the second.
“Undoubtedly the strength of the competition is going to improve, starting with the next game against UNCG. Tonight we had the majority of possession, majority of chances. I thought we didn’t execute very well and kept the team in longer than they should’ve been,” said Atkinson.
“More teams are going to come a little bit harder and faster in the next couple of weeks and we’ve got to be prepared for that.”
