BOONE, N.C. – Freshman Vanessa Tapper/Virginia Beach scored her first career goals late in the second half to help propel the Longwood University field hockey team to a 4-2, comeback victory at Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) opponent Appalachian State University (2-16, 1-7) on Friday evening in Boone, North Carolina. The Lancers trailed, 2-0, with just five and a half minutes remaining in the contest before Tapper's first goal sparked Longwood's offense to take the come-from-behind decision. Sophomore Hollie MacDonald/Yorktown added a goal of her own just over one minute later to knot the score at 2-2 before Tapper tallied the game-winner with less than three minutes to play and senior Stacey de Grandhomme/Cape Town, South Africa notched an insurance goal in the final seconds for the Lancers. Longwood (7-11, 5-2) will close out the regular season at fellow NorPac member Davidson College on Sunday, Nov. 3 beginning at 1 p.m.

"I'm really proud of the character we showed to fight back tonight," said head coach Iain Byers. "We left it right to the end and the last 20 minutes were nerve wracking, but I knew the team had it in them to perform like that. I'm very happy with how they fought back from two goals down to win, 4-2. There are a lot of positives to take away from that game. We are looking forward to pushing on against Davidson on Sunday. We'll get a little bit of rest tomorrow and hopefully come out strong in our season finale."

The offensive attack for both sides started strong, as the squads combined for six shots in the first eight minutes. Sophomores Kim Ruiter/Huizen, the Netherlands and Emily Leonard/Virginia Beach accounted for the first two chances by the Lancers to open the game, but both missed wide before de Grandhomme put a hard slap on target that was kicked away by ASU goalkeeper Sarah Anderson. The game quieted with an eight minute lull until Longwood earned back-to-back corners, allowing sophomore Nicole Deckard/Selinsgrove, Pa. to launch a shot on cage from the top of the circle on the second, but Anderson came up with the save once again. The Lancers continued to control the momentum with six more shots in a row, but the Mountaineers back line played solid defense anchored by Anderson, sending the teams into the break knotted at 0-0.

The Mountaineers broke the game open early in the second half, taking advantage of a penalty corner situation. Dana Wetmore received the ball at the top of the circle before passing back to Jessi Stuart on the left side for the shot and goal, giving ASU a 1-0 edge with just over 26 minutes remaining in the match. MacDonald notched the Lancers' first shot of the half in the 49th minute, but it was turned away by Anderson. The teams traded possessions before Longwood forced a penalty corner and Deckard tallied the shot that went wide. With less than nine minutes to play, the Mountaineers extended their lead to 2-0 when Stuart dished a pass to Lynnae Luettich on the right side of the cage for the tip in.

The Lancers quickly retaliated, however, as Tapper collected a rebound off of the keeper's pads during a corner and chipped the ball into the back of the cage to make it 2-1 with five and a half minutes left in the outing. Just over a minute later, MacDonald struck for Longwood, finding the back of the cage after fighting for a loose ball in a scramble, to tie the match at 2-2. The game-winner came in the 66th minute off the stick of Tapper, as she dribbled around the last line of defense before taking a wide open shot and giving the squad its first advantage of the night. de Grandhomme added an insurance goal in the final seconds when she wound up for a long attempt that skidded by the outstretched Anderson, sealing the 4-2 victory for the Lancers.

Friday's contest marked the 30th meeting between Longwood and Appalachian State in the sport of field hockey. The Lancers now hold a 25-5 advantage in the all-time series.