August 30, 2009

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University field hockey team fell to Lock Haven University 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Senior Melissa Strickland/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) scored the Lancers' lone goal. Longwood returns to action on Saturday, September 5, when it hosts Lafayette College at 11 a.m. at the Athletics Complex.

The first half was a defensive struggle for both teams, with Longwood attempting four shots and Lock Haven attempting two. The pace quickened in the second half with Lock Haven staying on the attack early in the period. The Leopards got off four shots but two of them were blocked and two others were stopped by Longwood goalkeeper Erin Bollinger/Midlothian (Clover Hill).

The Lancers scored first when Strickland collected a rebound after a shot by freshman Taylor Bender/Harrisburg, Pa. (Central Dauphin) and put it in the cage, giving Longwood the 1-0 lead with 7:32 remaining in the match. Lock Haven answered five minutes later when Kristi Shepps collected a loose ball in front of the net and scored, tying the game with 2:26 remaining. One minute later, Shepps broke free and squeezed a pass by Bollinger to Suzann Hobart, who scored the game winning goal with 1:21 remaining on the clock.

“To work as hard as we did today and not have anything to show for it is frustrating,” said Longwood head coach Iain Byers. “We need to work on finishing games once we have a lead. That is something we will focus on this week.”

Lock Haven outshot Longwood 12-11 and held a 6-5 edge in penalty corners. Sophomore Olga Knop/Berlin, Germany (Wener-von-Siemens-Gymnasium) had a team-high three shots on goal while Strickland and Bender each had two shots on goal. Bollinger finished with five saves.

The Eagles were led by Shepps who had one goal and one assist. Hobart added one goal while Erin Terreson had seven saves in goal.