March 22, 2008

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University women’s lacrosse improved to 4-6 on the season after defeating Villanova 10-9 on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics Complex. The Lancers were led by freshman Cara O’Brien/Arlington (Bishop O’Connell) who scored four goals, while also adding one assists. Longwood returns to action on March 26 at 4 p.m. as they head to Davidson, N.C. to take on Davidson.

O’Brien opened things up in the 4th minute of play, driving to the goal after collecting a Morgan Illian/Salisbury, Md. (Parkside) pass. O’Brien continued the scoring assault for the Lancers, scoring in the 7th minute with help from Kesley Dean/Centreville, Md. (Queen Anne’s) who picked up the assist. Villanova would cut the Lancers lead to one with 21:41 left in the first half on a Rachael Ponge goal.

Longwood would pick up the pace following the Villanova goal with six unanswered goals in a 10 minute span. Liz Sellmayer/ () scored for Longwood in the 10th minute, with a Page Farmer/Richmond (St. Catherine’s) assist. Farmer would follow her assist with a goal of her own with 20:31 to play in the first half. Carlie Nethken/Hanover, Md. (Long Reach) picked up her first goal of the game in the 15th minute off of another assist by Dean.

“Carlie Nethken has really stepped up as a leader for us on both ends of the field,” said head coach Janet Grubbs. “Our whole team played with so much heart.”

O’Brien would go on to pick up her third goal of the game with 13:52 to play in the half, while Sellmayer would add her second goal in the 10th minute. Freshman Amanda Bereznay/Gwynn Oak, Md (Setan Keaugh) added her only goal of the game in the 21st minute, after taking full advantage of a free position shot.

Villanova would not back down, answering back in the 23rd and 24th minutes with back-to-back Taryn McKenna goals. O’Brien would add an assist to her day in the 24th minute feeding Joyce Haines/Prince Frederick, Md. (Calvert) to put Longwood up 9-3. The teams would head into halftime with Villanova cutting the score to 9-4 in the 26th minute.

The second half of action would prove to be very different than the first for the Lancers as they would go on to score just one goal, while Villanova scored five. Longwood's lone goal of the half would come from O’Brien, who took the ball around the net and past the Villanova keeper, after receiving the pass from Nethken.

“I am pleased with how well we kept our heads together at the end of the game,” said Grubbs. “We executed our game plan very well. Jennifer Holliday made some key saves for us.”

Jennifer Holliday/Gaithersburg, Md. (Quince Orchard) ended the game with seven saves, after playing 48 minutes in goal.