Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University field hockey team fell, 2-1, against VCU (3-0) of the Atlantic 10 Conference in the final seconds of overtime on Wednesday evening at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Sophomore Jessica Diaz|Chesapeake (Western Branch) scored for the Lancers (0-5), to tally her second goal of the season. Longwood travels to Oxford, Ohio for a pair of game this weekend, as they take on Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, September 8, before squaring off against Ball State in a neutral-site contest on Sunday, September 9. Both games are slated to begin at 12 p.m.

“This was a tough loss, but games against VCU are always a nice challenge,” said head coach Iain Byers. “Our games against each other are always really exciting and close, and this year, VCU got the better of us, but we're still seeing improvement. We're going to keep pulling along and we're going to keep getting better.”

The Lancers controlled the pace of play early, outshooting VCU, 5-1 in the first half. The squad took a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the contest, when Diaz took control of the ball outside of the circle before dribbling all the way in and beating the VCU goalkeeper to her glove side for the score.

VCU tried to retaliate with a good chance on penalty corner, but a strong defensive effort by the Lancers and a diving save by senior goalkeeper Amy Lewis|Lewisville, N.C. (Forsyth Country Day) extinguished the Rams' opportunity. VCU forced two more first-half penalty corners, but was not able to convert on either of these chances, allowing the Lancers to take a 1-0 edge into the break.

The Rams offense went to work quickly in the second half, as Haley McBee knotted the game at 1-1 less than four minutes into the period, when she dribbled to top of circle and fired a hard shot that skidded past Lewis.

The teams battled through over 30 minutes of scoreless action to end regulation locked at one apiece and send the game to overtime. Both of the teams had chances in the 15-minute sudden-victory period, as VCU took three shots and LU took two. The Rams offense earned three penalty corners in the overtime period to wear on the Lancers' defense. With just three seconds left, Kelsey Scherrer picked up the ball near the 25-yard line and dribbled in alone on a breakaway. When Lewis came out of the cage to defend, Scherrer sent a shot hard and high into the goal to seal the 2-1 victory for the Rams.

The Lancers outshot the Rams, 11-8, in the outing, but VCU forced more penalty corners, 7-4. Wednesday's contest marked the 26th meeting between the two squads in the sport of field hockey. VCU now leads the all-time series, 15-11.