September 11, 2005

BOX SCORE

RICHMOND, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a 1-0 field hockey decision at Virginia Commonwealth University Sunday afternoon in Richmond. The Lancers dropped to 2-3 this season, while Virginia Commonwealth earned its first victory of the season and now holds a 1-3 record. Longwood will play its next match Sunday, September 18 against Rider in Virginia Beach at 12:00 p.m.

The lone goal of the contest came off a penalty stroke at the 11:23 mark of the first half. VCU’s Nikki Lloyd placed her shot past sophomore goalkeeper Avanell Schmitz/Newport News (Denbigh) for the game-winning goal.

"We came together and had some good opportunities today," stated eighth-year head coach Nancy Joel. "Unfortunately we didn’t get the outcome we would have liked. 

"Cristin Newbold, Avanell Schmitz, Sarah Hitchings and Lyndsay Owen had stand-out performances I thought. Cristin played strong at the forward position, while Avanell again kept us in the game with a solid performance in front of the cage. Sarah made her presence felt in the midfield and Lyndsay, who came off the bench, solidified a position at sweeper." 

Virginia Commonwealth took the 16-4 edge in shots and a slight 9-4 edge in penalty corners. Schmitz, who ranks first in save percentage (.818) in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) statistics, finished the contest with seven saves for the Lancers, while Becca Leuzzi and Laura Baker shared the shutout for VCU making two saves.