October 31, 2008

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. - Halloween was not so kind to the Longwood University field hockey team who fell to William and Mary 4-0 on Friday night, in the teams final regular season matchup. The Lancers end the season with a 8-11 record, an improvement over last seasons 6-16 finish. Longwood will now head into post season, hosting the NorPac Tournament at the Athletics Complex on Nov. 6-8. At the moment the Lancers will enter the tournament ranked as the No. 5 seed, setting them up to face the No. 4 seed Radford in the 9 a.m. game on Nov. 6.

Prior to the start of the game the Lancers honored their five graduating seniors, including Erin West/Stafford (North Stafford) who ended the game with nine saves. William and Mary edged out the Lancers in shots, coming up with 19 to the Lancers 11. The Tribe also had a minimal lead in penalty corners, 8-7.
   
The Tribe took an early 1-0 lead, getting on the board in the fourth minute. William and Mary squeezed in one more goal before the end of the half, scoring in the 33rd minute of action off a well placed penalty corner.
   
The Lancers defense was unfortunate in the 49th minute when the Tribe slipped a ball under a diving West, to take a 3-0 lead. Wesley Drew picked up a goal in the 65th minute to go with her assist from the first goal of the game, giving the Tribe a 4-0 advantage.
   
“If you were at the game, it did not appear to be a 4-0 game,” head coach Iain Byers said. “We played very competitive in the first half, but it didn't show on the scoreboard. We let the second half get away from us. We can't dwell on this game though. We need to get ourselves mentally and physically prepared for the NorPac Tournament.”