FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood field hockey made a statement in its Mid-American Conference opener, dominating both ends of the field en route to a 6-0 shutout win over conference newcomer Bellarmine Saturday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
 
The Lancers (4-2, 1-0 MAC) controlled the game throughout, scoring in all four quarters and getting goals from six different players to earn their third win in the past four games. Four of those goals came off of penalty corners, including the opening score from senior Jamie Wright just 4:28 after the opening push and the closer from junior Caroline Hampton with just 48 seconds left on the clock.
 
The win gives Longwood a victory in the MAC opener for the third straight year and builds on a non-conference performance that saw the Lancers – ranked No. 3 in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll – defeat Drexel, Towson and William & Mary, while also taking No. 20 Old Dominion to the wire in a 2-1 defeat on the road.
 
Along with goals from Wright and Hampton Saturday, senior and three-time All-MAC defender Luna Lopez contributed a goal and an assist, while Maroussia Walckiers, Isis Vrolijks and Ana Paula Lazaro also found the net. The six goals are Longwood's most in a MAC game since joining the league in 2014 and tied for the fourth most in the program's Division I era dating back to 2007.
 
"You'll have games where you do well and score and you're effective, and you have games where you won't," said Longwood head coach Iain Byers. "Seeing a six up there is nice, and seeing the zero is particularly nice, too. Bellarmine is brand new to Division I, but they're much better this year. We definitely respected them today. One of our key points of emphasis was to be on point and not take anything too lightly. I was happy we did that today."
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Longwood limited Bellarmine (1-5, 0-1 MAC) to just two shots, neither of which were on goal, thanks to a stifling effort from the starting backline quartet of Lopez, Kolbey Donahue, Caroline Verhappen and Rio Weber.
 
That performance made for Longwood's third shutout of have come under the watch of redshirt senior goalkeeper Madison Nuckols, whose goals against average dropped to a MAC-leading 1.54 per game with the clean sheet.
 
The Lancers were also able to clear their bench, deploying a season-high 23 players in the 60-minute rout. Freshmen Sadie Cohen, Ireland McDermott, Cara Obeirne, Sydney Paul and Chloe Underwood all made their collegiate debuts Saturday, while Hampton also made her 2021 debut and scored her first career goal in the 60th minute.
 
"Once we came out and had a lot of our bench in, it was exciting to see them work just as hard and keep the energy level as high as our starters," said Weber, who made her 49th career start Saturday. "Our biggest challenge was making sure we kept our level high and played our game, playing simple and doing the things we prepared to do. We did that, and I'm proud of each and every one of my teammates for contributing.
 
The conference-opening win sends Longwood into a major MAC matchup next week at Miami (Ohio). That showdown will pit the Lancers against the league's reigning champion on Friday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. in Oxford, Ohio.
 
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