LYNCHBURG, Va. – Freshman Jordan Chapman/Williamsburg scored her first career goal in the final two minutes of play to propel the No. 2E seed Longwood University field hockey team to a 2-1 victory against No. 3W Pacific (4-14) in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) Tournament on Thursday evening in Lynchburg. Redshirt-freshman Rachel Lombardi/Marlton, N.J. added to the offensive effort with a goal of her own to give the squad an early lead in the outing, while senior Stacey de Grandhomme/Cape Town, South Africa tallied an assist on the day, as well. With the victory, Longwood (9-11) advances to take on No. 1W Stanford in a semifinal match tomorrow, Friday, November 8, at 4 p.m.

"This was a brilliant performance today against a strong Pacific team, playing a very tough style of hockey," said head coach Iain Byers. "We were very happy with our performance and how efficient we were in front of the cage. We are looking forward to moving onto the semifinals against Stanford. We know it's going to be a difficult game, but we prepared with tough matches earlier in the season for this reason."

The Tigers were quick to apply pressure in the early minutes of the game, but the Lancers' played solid defense against three shots in the first nine minutes, aided by a stop by senior keeper Kaye Goulding/Tickhill, England and a defensive save by senior Nicole Segala/Williamsburg. Longwood earned its first corner of the night just over 11 minutes into play, but a hard shot from the top of the circle by de Grandhomme sailed wide. The Lancers took full advantage of their next corner opportunity, however, as Lombardi tipped in a pass by de Grandhomme from the left side to give her squad a 1-0 lead. The teams traded one shot apiece in the next four minutes, but Goulding and Pacific keeper Molly Macierz each came up with a save. The Tigers earned a penalty stroke in the 25th minute that Goulding batted away from the cage to keep the Lancers' one-goal edge intact. Pacific, the visitors in the neutral-site contest, outshot Longwood, 4-1, in the final minutes of the half, but the Lancers' backline continued to play stingy defense to maintain the squad's 1-0 edge heading into the break.

Coming out of halftime, the Tigers registered three of the first four shots for either side, two of which were save by Goulding and one that was blocked. The Lancers' first attempt of the half came off the stick of de Grandhomme, but her ball skidded wide. Longwood came close to extending its lead in the 43rd minute when a hard shot from sophomore Nicole Deckard/Selinsgrove, Pa. rang the post. The Lancers followed with four more consecutive chances, including one on cage that was stopped by Macierz. Pacific knotted the game at 1-1 with less than 19 minutes remaining in the contest, as Melissa Maultsby collected a loose ball in front of the cage after a blocked shot and dished a pass to teammate Counsman for the game-tying goal. The Lancers came close to pulling ahead with back-to-back penalty corners, but both shots by de Grandhomme were blocked by the defense. Sophomore Jennifer Burris/Virginia Beach followed with a pair of shots of her own in the 57th minute, collecting her own rebound after the first was saved and just missing barely wide with the second. The game-winner came with less than two minutes to play, as the Lancers converted during a corner play. Burris took the initial shot, and when her attempt was saved, Chapman reigned in the rebound before chipping the ball past the opposing keeper to seal the 2-1 victory for Longwood.

Goulding totaled 11 saves in the decision. Thursday's contest marked the 10th meeting ever between the Lancers and the Tigers in the sport of field hockey. The all-time series is now tied, 5-5.