Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Longwood University field hockey team played through two complete overtime periods before falling to Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) opponent Davidson, 3-2, in a shootout on Friday evening in Davidson, N.C. Junior
Stacey de Grandhomme|Cape Town, South Africa (Table View) and freshman
Jennifer Burris|Virginia Beach, Kempsville led the Lancers (2-11) with one goal apiece in the outing. Longwood will return to action on Sunday, October 7 on the road at Appalachian State for a 12 p.m. tilt.
The Lancers took an early, 1-0, lead just over five minutes into the contest. Sophomore
Jessica Diaz|Chesapeake (Western Branch) put a strong shot on cage that was saved by the Davidson goalkeeper, but before the ball could be cleared, Burris collected the rebound and took a shot from close range that skidded by the opposition for the go-ahead goal.
After nearly 15 minutes of scoreless action, Davidson retaliated when Julia Guthrie found Finley Amato open in the center of the circle for the score, knotting the game at 1-1.
Neither team was able to break the tie before the first half expired, but the Lancers regained the lead in the second half when de Grandhomme was successful on a penalty stroke opportunity just under nine minutes into the half.
Five minutes later, Amato scored her second goal of the game on a penalty corner with an assist by Melissa Funsten. The squads battled back and forth through the remaining 20+ minutes of the half, with neither able to find the back of the cage, forcing a 15-minute, sudden-victory overtime period.
In the first overtime, the Lancers tallied five shots, while the Wildcats notched four. Longwood had a chance to earn the victory when the squad was awarded a corner with ten seconds left in the period. When the ball was inserted, de Grandhomme fired a hard shot from the top of the circle that was blocked by a defender before senior
Christina Verhulst|Yorktown (Grafton) collected the rebound and took a shot of her own, but the Davidson keeper came up with the save to send the game to a second overtime.
Despite combining for seven shots, the teams played through another 15-minute overtime period in its entirety locked at 2-2, causing the game to move to a best-out-of-five shootout. Brooke Osborne made the first attempt of the competition for Davidson, while Diaz missed for the Lancers, putting the Wildcats up, 1-0, in the stroke-off. Amato and de Grandhomme each missed the cage for their respective teams before Sara French and Verhulst each converted to make it 2-1. In the next round, both teams were successful once again, this time with freshman
Kim Ruiter|Huizen, The Netherlands (Luzac College) scoring for LU and Funsten tallying what would become the game-winning goal, as both teams missed in the final round, giving Davidson the 3-2 shootout victory.
Longwood outshot Davidson, 24-15, and forced more penalty corners, 8-6, in the match. Friday's contest marked the 25th meeting between the Lancers and the Wildcats in the sport of field hockey. Davidson now holds a 13-11-1 advantage in the all-time series.
