FARMVILLE, Va. – Field hockey 10th-year head coach Iain Byers stresses that it's all about conference play and how you stack up against quality teams.
 
Longwood (7-1, 1-0 MAC) heard that message loud and clear as they stifled Central Michigan (0-8, 0-1 MAC) 4-0, passing their first Mid-American Conference test of the season while collecting their fourth shutout and second in as many games.
 
Even with the 7-1 start to the season and 1-0 beginning to conference play, the Lancers have managed to stay hungry and keep their work ethic at a high level to deliver on Byers' message.
 
"It was a little hard at the beginning (of the season) because before the conference game we were 6-1 but we had to tell ourselves it doesn't matter. The conference wins are what matter for us," said senior defender and captain Lil-Sophie Achterwinter. "Now that we've won our first conference game, we're so happy and excited but we're going to need to make sure that next week, and even tomorrow, we work just as hard to keep winning."
 
Just as they did last week in a similar 4-0 win, the Lancers came out firing behind two goals on their first two shots from forwards Leonie Verstraete and Edel Nyland to stun the Chippewas and capture the 2-0 lead and early momentum.
 
"A lot of the seniors of the group understand the importance of winning but also have the poise of refocusing for the next game," Byers said on his team's ability to keep their focus during their current hot streak. "We don't really talk too much about results, we talk more about performance and when you talk about performance you can separate goals, or the game, from the performance and that allows you to be critical without being obsessed with the score. It's another way to keep people grounded or confident."
 
Byers added, "The flip-side of that is if you're playing well but not winning, which we've experienced in the last year or two. It's something we've all learned."
 
Verstraete's game-winning goal in the fifth-minute was the first of two on the day for the Utrecht, Netherlands, native, as she picked up her MAC-leading fourth game-winner. Verstraete's four clutch goals this season are a new career-high after she collected three in the Lancers' historic march to their first MAC Championship appearance in program history just last season. She now leads the team in goals with six while Nyland sits just behind Verstraete with her five tallies.
 
Longwood has reeled in three MAC weekly honors this season to go along with their seven wins as Verstraete, Nyland and junior goalkeeper Katie Wyman have taken home accolades. All three showed up in full-force Saturday proving why they deserved that recognition and why this start is no fluke.
 
Saturday's dominant win was also the second time in as many contest that three different Lancers found the backboard as senior defender Kate Colley got in on the scoring for her first tally of the season and final mark of the afternoon in the 56th-minute.
 
"I trust everyone on the field 100% to score. I think that anyone on the field could and it makes it even better if several people do," Achterwinter said. "You get excited if different people start scoring."
 
Led by captains Achterwinter and Wyman, the Lancer defense kept the Chippewa offense in-check and faced a total of six shots on the afternoon, the sixth time the defense has faced less than 10 shots in a contest.
 
Wyman, who has collected four shutouts this season, leads the MAC in almost every statistical category including shutouts (4), goals allowed (6) and goals allowed average (0.94) while taking the form of a brick wall and allowing the Lancers to create a plus-2.35 scoring margin.
 
"Katie's doing a really good job and she's telling us where to go," Achterwinter said of her fellow team captain. "She's dominating. She's showing other teams that it's her circle. Overall everyone is working together very well and defending very well as a whole so I think that's why it's working so great."
 
Saturday's victory captured the second three-game win streak of the season, matching a feat the Lancers accomplished in last season's MAC Championship appearance run.
 
Verstraete's second strike of the day came on a penalty corner in the 37th-minute as Achterwinter placed a perfect pass onto Verstraete's stick before she fired a bullet past Central Michigan goalkeeper Lily Amadio. The two-goal, one-assist performance kept Verstraete at the top of the Lancer leaderboard in goals, points and assists just one season after breaking out for 35 points as a sophomore.
 
The torrid start puts the Lancers in good company as they became just the second program on campus to begin a season with a 7-1 record, joining four-time Big South Champion softball, who have accomplished the 7-1 feat three times (2011, 8-0) (2012, 2013; 7-1) since Longwood made the jump to Division I in the 2007-08 season.
 
Longwood steps back out of conference play for another stiff test Sunday afternoon as Georgetown comes to Farmville. Game time against the Hoyas is set for 1 p.m. from the friendly confines of Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field where the Lancers boast a 5-1 record since the playing surface was dedicated last October.
 
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