FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University field hockey team faced a 3-0 setback against visiting in-state opponent Richmond (5-4) on Thursday evening at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Senior Stacey de Grandhomme/Cape Town, South Africa paced the Lancers with a pair of shots, while sophomore Nicole Deckard/Selinsgrove, Pa. added one of her own. Rebecca Barry, one of three different goal scorers for the Spiders, led her squad with six shots in the outing. Longwood (3-6) returns to action on Sunday, September 29 when the team travels to Duke University of the Atlantic Coast Conference for a 1 p.m. tilt.

"The first half was a good performance by us," said head coach Iain Byers. "Actually, it was a very competitive game for both teams. We're happy with how our team worked and stuck to the game plan. When we went one goal down, we didn't generate enough circle penetration and shooting opportunities to stay competitive. When we started chasing the game, things happened towards the end that led to us conceding two more because we were throwing more people forward. The game itself was a great game, while the score line somewhat flatters Richmond, but they did well to execute their chances, which was something that we didn't, so we'll step that up in the next game against Duke."

Richmond recorded the first opportunity of the night on a corner, but Barry sent her shot skidding wide. Longwood followed with a corner of its own, as de Grandhomme recovered the ball for her squad after it bounced high off the stick stop, and followed with a good shot on target, but it was kicked away by UR keeper Anna Zarkoski. After almost 20 minutes without a shot from either side, de Grandhomme dribbled the ball across the circle and fired a backhand attempt just barely wide with less than 12 minutes remaining in half. The Lancers forced one more corner in the half, but were unable to record a shot, as the Richmond defense rushed out of the cage and cleared the ball out of circle to maintain the 0-0 stalemate heading into the break.

The Spiders pulled away with three second-half goals to secure the decision. Senior goalkeeper Kaye Goulding/Tickhill, England made a kick save on another shot by Barry to open the second period. Richmond broke the game open on a corner play when Amy Cooke took the initial attempt from the top of the circle that was redirected with tip-in by Samantha Ostoich for the goal. On the Spider's next possession, Goulding used the tip of her stick to knock away a high deflection that could have found its way under the crossbar to maintain the one-goal margin. Deckard followed with a backhanded shot from the left side of the circle, but the opportunity was extinguished with a save with just under 15 to play. Richmond struck twice more in the final five minutes of the game, as Emma Johansson scored unassisted and Barry converted on a corner with an assist from Allison Haas for the final score of 3-0.

Richmond outshot the Lancers, 13-3, in the decision, and forced more corner opportunities, 7-2. Goulding recorded five saves in front of the cage for Longwood. Thursday's contest marked the 17th meeting between Longwood and UR in the sport of field hockey. The Spiders hold a 14-2-1 advantage in the all-time series.