FARMVILLE, Va.- A full 90 minutes of heart and muscle proved to be the deciding factor as CSU walked away with 3-2 win, this time on the road at Longwood University, in Farmville, Va., Friday afternoon.

A match that was thought to be potentially played in dreary conditions all of a sudden was played in glorious sunlight as the Lady Bucs traveled to play Longwood on Friday afternoon.

The Lady Bucs came out strong when Morgann Wood gathered a loose ball about 20 yards out and completely crushed a shot on frame that ended up in the back of the net a minute into the match. Wood's goal was a perfect way to start for CSU and to get her first goal of the season. As the half got underway it seemed as if Wood's peach of a goal, woke up a sleeping giant in Longwood. Wave after wave of attacks came on the CSU defense as Longwood pressed forward but could not find the net. A gutsy and at times inspirational performance in defense by seniors Amy Arroyo and Casey Bolduc kept the Lady Bucs ahead in the first half.

As Longwood seemed to push numbers forward CSU decided that its best option would be to play a counter-attacking game and that paid off when Gina Thomas got the Lady Bucs 2nd in the 39th minute of play. Thomas' work rate to chase down a loose ball and continue to pressure Longwood's defense ended up with her digging a ball out for the Lady Bucs and slotting a ball past the outstretched hands of the Longwood keeper. As the half came to a close it seemed as if CSU was in the driver's seat of the match. Having six shots on goal and capitalizing on two of them, the Lady Bucs looked to be in command of the game. As all soccer fans and players know having a 2-0 lead going into the half is the worst thing possible. You find yourself sometimes being complacent but, CSU had the thought of going out and hunting for that third goal to put the game to rest.

As the second half started Longwood did not want to go away quietly and again pushed tons and tons of numbers forward looking to get a goal to bring the CSU lead back to 1. The 48th minute saw Allison Lewis have a go on goal that was tipped and hit the crossbar resulting in a corner kick. Off of that corner, Wood found Lewis, who had a great header on goal that beat Longwood's keeper but only found the post. CSU were looking for that allusive 3rd goal but in the 55th minute, Longwood found their lifeline as Arroyo and the Lady Bucs defense were beaten, when a loose ball squirted out to Longwood's Kacie Oliver who drilled home their first of the match. When this happened the game began to be played wide open.

Longwood went back to pressing even more numbers forward and it was a mad dash to see who could get the next goal. CSU would make a great attacking play exposing Longwood's short handed defense but Longwood would counter back with an attack of their own. Bolduc and Arroyo would come up big for CSU as Longwood kept coming forward. Bolduc on three different occasions tracked back to stop breakaways as she seemed to appear almost out of thin air, to thwart and attack. Arroyo would seemingly use her entire body from face to legs to make a save as Longwood would get point blank shots on goal.. A Longwood player would seemingly be in one on one with Arroyo and Bolduc would find a way to track back and disrupt whatever attack Longwood had. Stephanie Hand, Olivia Urig, Chloe Urig, and Hali Singleton also played pivotal parts as the Lady Bucs defense would come under attack in the last 15 to 20 minutes of the match. When Longwood seemed to be able to crack the Lady Bucs defense, alas came a third goal for CSU. Off of a Morgann Wood corner, Toni Lashley got the ball inside the 18 and let loose a shot that deflected off of a Longwood defender and found the back of the net in the 84th minute to give CSU a 3-1 lead, and add to her tally of 4 goals on the season with 3 game winners. Knowing that this goal gave them a little bit of breathing room, the Lady Bucs readied themselves for whatever Longwood would throw at them. Tough midfield play from Rebecca Hollstegge and Anja Djumisic put the clamps down on the Longwood midfield. Showing their season's mantra of a "never say die" attitude, CSU all over the field put in hard work and muscle to keep goals out of Arroyo's net.

With 2:54 remaining, Longwood got their 2nd of the match, which came off of a one touch finish past Arroyo to close the game to a 3-2 score line and also turn the last minutes of play into an all out battle. Chaos was all over the pitch, as Longwood looked for their 3rd goal, but that was not to be as CSU kept their 5 game winning streak alive. "We are still a young team and we are progressing with each match," Coach Eric Terrill talks about the win," We showed a lot of heart and individual efforts out their today as our girls battled. We had our chances and finished them and that's what ultimately won this for us. It's not about what year you are or anything else, but how much heart you have and our girls showed that today. With the confidence we have from this winning streak, today was huge for us. Our determination to win and our heart definitely helped us out get this victory. We are running on off of a lot of adrenaline, confidence and heart. I am excited to see what is next for us."

The Lady Bucs will be back in action at 7 p.m., Thursday, September 29th as they travel to High Point for their first conference match of the season.