September 27, 2009

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University field hockey team defeated NorPac East Division foe Davidson College 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Senior Julia Hernandez/Norfolk (Maury) scored two goals in the second half, including the game-winner. The Lancers (3-5, 1-0 NorPac) return to action on Saturday, October 3, when they travel to Radford to take on NorPac opponent Radford University at 2 p.m..

Davidson (2-8, 0-2 NorPac) opened the scoring in the eighth minute on a Courtney Tobe goal from five yards out to take a 1-0 lead. Longwood freshman Taylor Bender/Harrisburg, Pa. (Central Dauphin) evened the score in the 31st minute as she collected a loose ball in front of the net and put it in the goal.

Longwood came out firing in the second half as Hernandez found the net in the 39th minute off a pass from senior Melissa Strickland/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) from the right side and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 2-1. Hernandez would add an insurance goal in the 55th minute to take a 3-1 lead. The Lancers would need that third goal as Davidson scored 90 seconds later to pull within 3-2. The Longwood defense held strong the rest of the way, stopping two corner attempts in the last six minutes to secure the win.

“It was a good game,” said Longwood head coach Iain Byers. “Davidson is always a tricky team and it is good to get our first NorPac win. We played better today than the past few games and it showed. It is good to build momentum before our next NorPac match next weekend at Radford.”

Hernandez scored her two goals on three shots, all of them on goal. Senior Kelsey Turner/Virginia Beach (Tallwood) had three shots, two of them on goal while classmate Jessica Mantel/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) had two shots with one on goal. Junior goalkeeper Erin Bollinger/Midlothian (Clover Hill) had four saves in 70 minutes in the cage with three of the saves in the first half.

Longwood outshot Davidson 14-12 while Davidson had an 8-6 advantage in penalty corners.