DAVIDSON, N.C. – Two early goals from Edel Nyland was enough offense as the Longwood field hockey team outlasted a second-half surge from Davidson to get back in the win column by a 2-1 score Sunday afternoon from Belk Field. Sunday's win was the second road win of 2017 after a 1-0 shutout of Towson earlier in the year.

Longwood (5-1) controlled most of the opening 35 minutes behind Nyland's first two goals of the season, including the game-winner in the 13^th-minute. Davidson's (0-4) Anna Brewer cut the deficit in half in the 51^st-minute with the game's final tally but the Longwood defense stymied any other opportunity the Wildcats managed to create.

"We had a good 10 minutes at the start of the game and then we just didn't keep up the intensity for the rest of the game. It's definitely something we're looking to improve on," Nyland said.

"We were tough today. It wasn't an easy game. They definitely put some pressure on us and we dealt with it," said 10th-year head coach Iain Byers, who has the Lancers back in the win column for the fifth time in 2017. "We could have dealt with it a little better, but we dealt with it okay and that's what led us to the win.

"We talked about coming out hard and we did," Byers said. "We were sloppy, but there was enough fight in us to keep us in it and we managed the end of the game a little bit better than Friday."

The two quick strikes from Nyland were her first two of the season, the first coming on a penalty stroke in the 5th-minute and the second coming in the 13th-minute on a rebound off the crossbar.

"Both goals today were 100-percent a team effort. The first was a penalty stroke, and I just had the easy job of putting it away. Our second goal was the same. It came off a rebound and it took a group effort," Nyland said.

Junior goalkeeper and team captain Katie Wyman and the Lancer defense came up with big stops throughout the second half as the Wildcat offense came alive to fire seven of their eight shots and make things interesting down the stretch.

"Our second half play went down tremendously, but our defense stepped up a little bit and we pulled through," said Wyman, who has a .700 save percentage and sits near the top of the Mid-American Conference in almost every defensive category. "It wasn't up to par, but the defense did a really nice job keeping it at one goal allowed. It wasn't as good as it should have been, but we'll take it."

With just 2:53 remaining in the contest, the Wildcats pulled sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Zeszotarski for an extra forward in hopes of tying the game and forcing a decisive overtime period. Wyman and the Lancer defense didn't blink, however, as they shut down the extra-forward strategy to hold on.

Leading the second-half surge for the Wildcats was Brewer from her defensive position as she finished the afternoon with three shots, two on goal and the lone Davidson strike. Kristin Kisa, who picked up a defensive save, fired two shots on the afternoon while Caitlyn Gund, Courtney Byler and Sydney McKenna all sent one shot.

After allowing two quick goals, Zeszotarski collected 10 saves in the losing effort as she settled down to keep the Lancers off the board over the final 57 minutes of the contest and set the stage for a last-moment finish.

Longwood sent a season-high 22 shots on the afternoon with multi-shot games from Nyland, junior forward Leonie Verstraete, sophomore midfielder Olivia Wawrzyniak and seniors Kate Colley and Abbey Ripley. Nyland has six shots, three on goal while Verstraete had five shots, three on goal and all three of Wawrzyniak's shots ended up on goal. The senior trio of Colley, Ripley and Brenna Kinzel also sent shots on goal in the winning effort.

Longwood returns to Farmville for a four-game homestand beginning Saturday, Sept. 16 when LIU Brooklyn comes to town. During Saturday's clash with the Blackbirds, the Lancers will welcome back the 1975-76 team which won a program-record 16 contests thanks to a single-season record 68 goals. Following the nonconference affair, the Lancers begin Mid-American Conference play as Central Michigan comes to town the following Saturday as part of a triple header at the Longwood Athletics Complex.

"We're going to look at this next game in LIU Brooklyn and get ready for that, and I think the team will realize we need a better performance," Byers said. "We can't have another performance like that or it will hurt us in MAC play. We've got to be prepared for that and be ready to play LIU Brooklyn."

Game time against LIU Brooklyn is set for 12 p.m. from the friendly confines of Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field where the Lancers boast a record of 3-1 since the field was named after the legendary field hockey player and Longwood professor last October.

"We're looking to take the home advantage, get as much support as we can and really look to get things going one game at-a-time," Nyland said.

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