FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood lacrosse battled in a white knuckler that went down to the wire against Xavier on Sunday afternoon. The Lancers (2-2) had a tying shot hit the post in the waning minutes, but Xavier (2-2) edged the Lancers 16-14.
 
SCORE:
 
             1Q          2Q          3Q          4Q          FINAL
XU         5             5             2             4             16
LWU      4             5             3             2             14
 
Top Performer
Riley McDonald: 5G, 2A
Molly Flynn: 4GB, 3CT
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Neither side led by more than three goals in a back and forth affair. Riley McDonald had a massive day for the Lancers. She had a hand in half of Longwood's goals, with a career-best five goals and two assists, and
 
However, Xavier's Lola Mancuso was equally unstoppable and totaled six goals and an assist for the Musketeers. Riley Halloran added a hat trick.
 
McDonald ripped off two goals in the first seven minutes in a high-tempo first quarter. The Lancers jumped out to a 4-1 lead after Lauren Cerretani posted her first goal of the match off a nifty pass from McDonald.
 
However, Xavier ran off four straight goals to take the 5-4 lead after one quarter.
 
Sophi Passa gave Longwood the lead early in the second quarter with back-to-back goals less than 90 seconds apart, but Xavier tied the score less than 20 seconds later. The two traded goals back and forth through the rest of the second quarter and all of the third period.
 
Xavier scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to snap a 12-12 tie, with Natalie Ellis's free position goal giving the Musketeers a three-goal lead.
 
Longwood rallied, and Ellie Rumbaugh earned a free position attempt with 3:12 to play. She buried the opportunity to cut the lead to two, and McDonald powered home her fifth goal of the game with 1:56 left to cut the lead to one.
 
The Lancers had a chance to tie it less than 30 seconds later, but McDonald rifled one off the post with 1:32 to play. Mancuso added a late goal with 34 seconds to go to give Xavier the two-goal advantage.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"A lot of fun was had battling Xavier today with some great takeaways," said Head Coach Kylar Ferguson. "Sophia Passa really stepped up today as a freshman on the circle, and it was fun to watch Riley McDonald get into a rhythm offensively."
 
"The Lancers played hard as a team which makes it easy for us to see the growth towards four full quarters of competitive play," Ferguson added.
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 
Riley McDonald had a team-best five goals on 12 shots. She had a pair of ground balls as well.
 
McDonald doubled her goal total on the season.
 
Sophia Passa had her first multi-goal game as a Lancer, and her two goals gave her three on the season.
 
Passa also caused two turnovers and had five draw controls.
 
Molly Flynn had a team-best four ground balls, and she also tied for the team lead with three caused turnovers.
 
Julie Koenig also tied for the team lead with three caused turnovers. She had a pair of ground balls as well.
 
Lauren Cerretani had one goal and two assists and was second on the team with three points.
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood heads to Old Dominion on Wednesday, March 1 to take on the Monarchs. Opening draw is set for 6 p.m.
 
#GoWood