Longwood men drop season opener at Richmond 3-2 in double overtime

The Longwood University men’s soccer team dropped a 3-2 double-overtime decision to the University of Richmond of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Wednesday evening at Ukrop Park in Richmond. Senior Harvey Headley (Coventry, England; Stoke Park) and junior Zack Mahon (San Antonio, Texas; William Howard Taft) each scored for Longwood (0-1). Richmond’s Spencer Schiff scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute.

“The boys showed a lot of character tonight,” said sixth-year head coach Jon Atkinson. “We didn’t get the rub of the green, but they bounced back and fought hard. We have some good things to work on as we prepare for Liberty.”

The two squads played the first half to a scoreless draw before the scoring picked up at the beginning of the second half. Richmond (1-0) got on the board first as Jed Antoun scored from eight yards out to put the Spiders ahead 1-0 in the 46th minute. Longwood would not stay down long and tied the match in the 49th minute when Headley took a pass from sophomore Parker Arnold (Columbia, S.C.; Darlington Academy) and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper from 15 yards. Richmond pushed ahead again in the 59th minute on a goal by Houston Oldham but the Lancers would answer again, this time on a goal from Mahon on a shot from 15 yards in the 64th minute. Neither team would score in the final 25 minutes of regulation or in the first 10 minutes of overtime.

The Lancers had several scoring opportunities, including a shot by freshman Nick Surkamp (Manassas; Osbourn Park) that ricocheted off of the post and a header by sophomore Josh Woodburn (Louisburg, N.C.; Franklinton) that was saved on the line.

Junior goalkeeper Joel Helmick (Springfield, Va.; W.T. Woodson) had nine saves and allowed three goals in 105 minutes. Richmond goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson had five saves while giving up a pair of goals. Headley led Longwood with five shots while Surkamp and Mahon each had a pair.

Richmond outshot Longwood 15-12 while Longwood had a 6-2 advantage in corners. Twelve of Richmond’s shots were on goal while seven of Longwood’s were on target.