BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb was defeated by Longwood 1-0 with the Lancers' lone goal coming off a second-half penalty kick.
The Runnin' Bulldogs kept the pressure up on Longwood all match forcing Jacob Reimers to make four saves to keep the shutout.
Abel Gebrekiros put two shots on goal in the 30
th minute, and
Owen Zaldivar also had one in the first half.
In the second half, the teams traded scoring opportunities for the first 25 minutes. The best chance for the 'Dogs came off
Odal Brown's shot in the 56
th minute that forced another save from Reimers.
Longwood scored the game-winner in the 72
nd minute off a penalty kick by Markus Gronli. Longwood had two more opportunities in the coming minutes leading to
Robby Spradlin's making two of his three saves of the day in his second career start. Gardner-Webb continued to create chances in the last five minutes of the match, having three corner kicks taken, but unable to get the ball in the back of the net.
In total, the Runnin' Bulldogs took 11 shots with six of those off the boat of Gebrekiros, which ties his career-high set in the Big South Conference Semifinals versus #2 High Point in 2019.
The loss puts Gardner-Webb at 2-3 in Big South play with three matches remaining, at Radford (10/23), at Presbyterian (10/30), and home versus Winthrop (11/3).