Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University field hockey team scored a trio of second-half goals to earn a 3-0 decision against Georgetown University in a preseason exhibition contest as part of The GAME at the Athletics Complex in Farmville on Sunday evening. Senior Stacey de Grandhomme/Cape Town, South Africa, and sophomores Nicole Deckard/Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania and Kim Ruiter/Huizen, the Netherlands tallied one goal apiece in the final 16 minutes of play to help lead the Lancers to victory in front of a crowd of over 1,600. Longwood will open its regular-season campaign on Saturday, August 31 when it hosts Saint Joseph's University for a 1 p.m. tilt.
"This was a useful experience for us," said head coach Iain Byers. "The game itself was a good test for how the preseason has gone. The stats obviously go in our favor and we're happy to get the three goals on the board. The number of shots in the shutout was good, as well. The performance itself was below where we have played this preseason and we know we can improve. This is a good starting point for the team to work off of and it gives us a number of things to focus on, which is exactly the point of a preseason scrimmage. We're happy to come away with a win and look forward to St. Joe's, where I think we can expect to play a lot better, but hopefully we'll still get the same result."
de Grandhomme, who notched the game-winning goal with 14:41 remaining in the second half, led the squad with 11 shots in the outing. Junior Jessica Diaz/Chesapeake logged a pair of assists for the night, while senior Caitlin Smith/Hampton and sophomore Jennifer Burris/Virginia Beach recorded one apiece. Senior Kaye Goulding/Tickhill, England, sophomore Meg Mitchell/Allentown, Pa. and freshman Lauren Bernard/Langhorne, Pa. split time in front of the cage. Bernard recorded the lone save of the night for the squad.
The Lancers outshot the Hoyas, 6-1, in the first half, but neither squad was able to get on the board. Longwood threatened early, however, as Burris cradled a pass from de Grandhomme and dribbled into the circle, almost beating the Georgetown keeper, Rosalie Nolen, but her shot attempt was saved. The Hoyas' lone shot of the half bounced off of a group of sticks in front of the cage and sailed high. The Lancers came close again when Burris sprinted down the field to rein in a loose ball and earn a corner for her squad. de Grandhomme took the initial shot on the on the corner opportunity before sophomore Hollie MacDonald/Yorktown batted the rebound into the goal, but the shot was quickly called off, sending the teams into the half knotted at 0-0.
Longwood continued to attack coming out of the break. After 20 more minutes of scoreless action, de Grandhomme broke the game open when she converted on a direct corner assisted by Diaz and Burris. Just over six minutes later, Ruiter extended the squad's lead to 2-0 when she took an off-balance shot near the stroke line that found the back of the cage. Longwood's final goal of the outing came off of another direct corner, this time from the stick of Deckard after Smith inserted the ball to Diaz for the stick stop.
Longwood outshot Georgetown, 21-2, and forced more corners, 8-1. Burris and Ruiter recorded three shots each for the Lancers, while Deckard added two, and Diaz and McDonald logged one apiece. Aliyah Graves and Maria McDonald each notched one shot for the Hoyas.
