FARMVILLE, Va.-- Longwood University field hockey fell 3-1 to the 19th ranked Virginia Cavaliers Wednesday evening at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Longwood now stands at 5-13 overall while Virginia is 9-7 on the year. Longwood will return to action on Sunday, October 21, when they travel to Boone, N.C. for a 1 p.m. NorPac match-up with Appalachian State.

Most of the first half was a battle in the midfield as both teams looked to gain possession early on. Longwood drew the first opportunity of the night, on back-to-back penalty corners twenty-one minutes into the contest. On the Lancers second penalty corner senior Katie Claxton/Virginia Beach (Frank W. Cox) sent a shot towards the Cavaliers’ net that was tipped by sophomore Julia Hernandez/Norfolk (Maury) before UVa’s keeper Amy Desjadon knocked the shot away keeping the game at 0-0. Three minutes later Virginia was able to convert on a shot in traffic as Haley Carpentar slid a shot past senior keeper Avanell Schmitz/Newport News (Denbigh) for the 1-0 halftime lead.

After Abby Taylor padded the Cavaliers’ lead to two goals with 27:28 to go in the half Longwood was able to cut the lead back to one on a goal from Claxton three minutes later. Claxton carried the ball down the field and into the UVa. circle where she ripped a shot past the Cavaliers’ keeper for the 2-1 score with 25:27 left in the game. Virginia put the lead back to two goals with 18:00 remaining on a penalty corner shot from Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn.

Longwood had a late opportunity with under two minutes remaining in the game, as freshman Lauren Sullivan/Fredericksburg (Stafford) sent a centering pass in the circle with senior Mary Freeman/Fredericksburg (Stafford) running in. But Freeman was tangled with a Virginia defender and was unable to get a shot off keeping the game at 3-1 which stood as the final.

Schmitz finished the game with ten saves while Desjadon and Devon Burnley split time in net and combined for four saves in the contest. Virginia recorded 15 shots while Longwood tallied seven. The Lancers held a 5-4 advantage in penalty corners for the game.