November 3, 2007
BOX SCORE
STANFORD, Calf.-- Longwood University field hockey was unable to hold off the third seeded Pacific Tigers, falling 3-2 Saturday morning in the NorPac Conference fifth place game at Stanford University. Longwood closes the year with a 6-16 record while Pacific went 7-11 in the 2007 season.
After a battle in the midfield, Pacific’s Kedibone Leubane picked up a loose ball and sped down the left side of the field for a one on one with senior keeper Avanell Schmitz/Newport News (Denbigh). Schmitz came charging out and knocked away a shot by Leubane, but the freshman picked up her rebound and shot it towards the open Lancer net. Senior defender Danielle Woodie/Fredericksburg (Stafford) knocked the shot away to keep the game 0-0 two minutes into the contest. The Lancers quickly regrouped and went ahead 1-0 on a long corner just 4:52 into the contest.
Junior Carla Binnewies/Hamburg, Germany (Carl von Ossietzkly Gymnasium) carried the ball along the back line and put a cross in the circle that senior Katie Claxton/Virginia Beach (Frank W. Cox) knocked in, for her tenth goal of the year and the early 1-0 Longwood lead.
The team of Binnewies and Claxton struck again with 19:20 left in the half, on a Longwood penalty corner for the two goal advantage. After senior Mary Freeman/Fredericksburg (Stafford) inserted the ball, Binnewies slipped a pass to Claxton on the left side of the circle, where the senior ripped a shot in the far corner for her second goal of the game.
Pacific jumped on the scoreboard with 1:29 left in the first half on a goal by Rachel Taylor to cut the Lancers lead to 2-1 just before halftime. Luebane carried the ball along the baseline and gave a centering pass to Taylor who knocked in the pass for her fourth goal of the year.
Out of halftime, the Tigers tallied two goals in a 3:25 span to go ahead 3-2 with 30:30 left to play. Pacific’s first goal came just 1:05 into the second stanza, as Melody Demel picked up a loose ball in the Lancer circle and fired a shot through traffic that made its way in the back of the Longwood net for the 2-2 tie. Pacific came right back down the field a short time later and tallied the go ahead goal on a put back shot by Erica Nestle, giving the Tigers the lead for good. Nestle was standing on the right side of the Longwood circle and one timed a ball that bounced out on a Schmitz save for the 3-2 lead.
After a Longwood timeout, the Lancers were awarded back-to-back penalty corners but were unable to get anything past the Tigers’ keeper Valerie Niles. Longwood had one last chance to tie the score with seven minutes left as freshman Lauren Sullivan/Fredericksburg (Stafford) tipped a shot just wide of the Tigers’ net.
Schmitz recorded seven saves while Niles tallied two. Pacific out shot the Lancers 17-9 and held a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners.
