LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senior Stacey de Grandhomme/Cape Town, South Africa scored her squad's lone goal of the match, as the Longwood University field hockey team faced a 6-1 setback at Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) and in-state rival Liberty University (10-4, 5-0) on Thursday afternoon in Lynchburg. Freshman Vanessa Tapper/Virginia Beach recorded her second career point with the assist on de Grandhomme's goal, while junior Kelley Fay/Havertown, Pa. registered her first defensive save of the year. Longwood (5-10, 3-2) returns to Farmville for its final home contest of the season when it hosts Radford University in the team's Senior Day game on Sunday, October 20 beginning at 1 p.m. at the Athletics Complex.

"We're very disappointed with that performance and the result," said head coach Iain Byers. "As a coach, you always want to sugarcoat things and make it sound better than it is, but we did not play well at all today. The score was 6-1 and it could have been more because we didn't compete against a good conference team. We should be playing better. This makes the job of winning the NorPac Tournament very tough, but we'll keep fighting and we'll improve. Bring on the next game."

The Flames controlled the momentum in the first half, pressuring the Lancers defense in the first minutes of play. Liberty earned a pair of corners and converted on the second, as Natalie Barr sent a sweeping pass across the circle to set up Serena Barr for the one-timer from the left side of the cage to give Liberty an early 1-0 advantage. Less than five minutes later, the Flames extended their margin to 2-0 when Jordan Richardson saved the ball from going out of bounds before handing it off to Natalie Barr, who launched a backhand shot that found the upper left corner of the cage. Liberty forced another corner with just over 15 minutes to play in the first half, and the Barr sisters connected once again to make it 3-0 in favor of the home squad. Longwood pushed back, carrying the ball into the circle and making several successful pass, but the ball was turned over after a dangerous shot call. On the Lancers next possession, de Grandhomme rang the back of the cage, but the shot was called off for being taken outside the circle, sending the squad into the half facing a three-goal deficit.

Coming out of the break, Liberty was able to pull ahead, 4-0, just over a minute into play, as Bethany Barr scored on a reverse shot. Just over five minutes later, however, the Lancers were able to get on the board, converting on their first attempt of the day when Tapper tipped the ball by a defender and over to de Grandhomme, who chipped a shot into top right corner. On the next time down the field, sophomore Nicole Deckard/Selinsgrove, Pa. broke free from the pack and fired a shot on target, but it was saved by the diving Liberty keeper, Ann Jefferis. With just over 17 minutes remaining in the outing, Liberty regained its four-goal margin on a score by Ashlee Krulock. The Lancers had a penalty corner opportunity with less than 11 minutes remaining, but de Grandhomme's hard shot on target was knocked away by Jefferis. The Flames added one more score in the final minutes of the contest to earn the 6-1 decision.

Senior goalkeeper Kaye Goulding/Tickhill, England notched 11 saves in the complete-game effort. Thursday's contest marked the fifth meeting between Longwood and Liberty in the sport of field hockey, and the second matchup this season. Liberty now holds a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series.