Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senior Jamie Brentlinger/Gambrills, Maryland tallied a team-high three goals, as the Longwood University women's lacrosse team was handed a 7-6 setback by American University (8-8) in a hard-fought and closely-contested battle on Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C. The squads were tied four times in the outing, including a 5-5 stalemate with 20 minutes remaining in the second half before American notched back-to-back goals to pull away. Longwood (9-7) will play its regular-season finale on Saturday, April 20 when the squad hosts Big South Conference rival Liberty University on Senior Day beginning at 1 p.m.

"Today's game was a true defensive battle," said head coach Elaine Jones. "Our defense worked very hard all game and came up with multiple stops, but unfortunately our offense came up a bit short and American's goalie made several good saves. We had the opportunity to tie the game with 20 seconds to go, but the ball just didn't bounce our way. We now need to take what we learned from this game and move forward as we prepare for a conference matchup with Liberty on Saturday."

The Lancers outshot the Eagles, 22-16, and earned more draw controls, 10-5. Brentlinger added a team-best three ground balls to her stat line for the day. Freshman Katie McHugh/Burke recorded a pair of goals in the game, while sophomore Sarah Arndt/Pasadena, Md. rounded out the goal scorers for Longwood with one of her own. Junior Mary Barondess/Centreville logged one assist in the contest and junior Kathleen Battle/Nellysford notched three caused turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper Christian Acker/Moorestown, New Jersey posted a complete game performance in front of the net for the Lancers, turning away four shots and collecting one ground ball.

The defense for both squads reigned supreme for much of the first half, as the offense for Longwood and American combined for just five goals on 17 shots. American scored the first two goals of the day in five and a half minutes to take an early advantage, but both the Eagles and the Lancers went scoreless for the next 15 minutes. The sides alternated possession and momentum, but neither squad could find the back of the net. Longwood broke the silence with a goal from McHugh at 9:40 to cut the differential to just one goal at 2-1. The Lancers struck again, this time off the stick of Arndt, to knot the game at 2-2 with 4:26 remaining in the first half. American took advantage of a late foul and converted on a free-position attempt with just 15 seconds on the clock to take a slim, 3-2 edge into halftime.

Longwood retaliated quickly after the break, as Brentlinger scored two consecutive goals in the first four minutes of the second half to give the Lancers their only lead of the day at 4-3. The Eagles answered, however, with two scores of their own to regain the upper hand at 5-4 with 23:32 still to play. Longwood knotted the game for the final time at 5-5 when Barondess dished a direct pass to Brentlinger for the hard shot on goal at 20:11. The tie stood for almost three minutes until American posted the next two goals to take a 7-5 advantage with 12:13 remaining in the outing. Minutes later, McHugh found the back of the net unassisted to pull the Lancers within one at 7-6 with 3:43 left to go, but the squad could not come any closer, as that would be the final goal of the game.