BOONE, N.C. – Two games ago, Longwood field hockey was enduring its first losing streak of the season.
 
How they've rebounded since.
 
The Lancers (5-3) broke open a 1-1 halftime deadlock against Appalachian State (1-4) in a big way, erupting for three second-half goals to take down the Mountaineers 4-1 on the road Sunday afternoon at Adcock Field. The second-half breakout, which was sparked by a 46th-minute game-winner from freshman Olivia Wawrzyniak, powered the Lancers to their second straight win, extended their best start of the Division I era and put them halfway toward their fourth double-digit win season since 2007.
 
"It was a really good, solid performance where we controlled large portions of the game," said head coach Iain Byers, who has rallied his Lancers from back-to-back losses to win two in a row. "We're really proud of how we played, how we moved the ball and how we dealt well with their pressure. We really have a lot of depth, which especially showed up with four different goal-scorers."
 
The Lancers scored from all over the field, getting goals from NCAA scoring leader Edel Nyland, Wawrzyniak, Leonie Verstraete and Lil-Sophie Achterwinter, with two of those scores coming off second-half penalty corners. Nyland added an assist on Wawrzyniak's game-winner, also on a corner, to extend her Mid-American Conference-leading points total to 24 on the season.
 
Nyland's goal was a solo job in the 18th minute in which she drove into the arc from the midfield and beat Appalachian State keeper Rachel Gaines to negate Rebecca McLean's go-ahead score 10 minutes into the game. That would be the lone score for Longwood until the second half when Wawrzyniak's game-winner opened the flood gates.
 
"The first half we were a little off, but we came out after halftime and played awesome," said senior captain Ellen Ross, who keyed a defensive effort from the center midfield that held the Mountaineers to just four shots. "It was a complete team effort. Everyone was doing their job.
 
"Those last 10 minutes, we completely dominated the game."
 
That dominant stretch started with an Appalachian State timeout in in the 59th minute and continued all the way to the final whistle. Achterwinter and Verstraete scored within two minutes of each other, and Ross and her midfield counterparts helped keep the ball on the Mountaineers' end of the field for the duration. Appalachian State went the final 21 minutes without a shot, allowing senior goalkeeper Lauren Bernard a one-save win that was the 15th of her career.
 
"I think we finally had a game where we proved to everyone how good we are this season," Ross said.
 
The win makes Longwood the MAC's first five-win team this season and sets the stage for a Commonwealth rivalry showdown at Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., this Tuesday, Dec. 20, that will be Longwood's last non-conference game before the start of league play. The Flames will have to prep for a Longwood team coming off back-to-back four-goal outings, the most recent of which Saturday was only the team's second-largest margin of victory this year.
 
Following the Liberty matchup, Longwood begins pursuit of its first MAC championship with a conference opener against back-to-back league champion Kent State on Sept. 25 in Farmville, Va.
 
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