LIVE STATS
SUNDAY VIDEO

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood field hockey team travels to Lowell, Mass. this weekend to kick off the regular season in a two-day tournament against Holy Cross and host UMass Lowell.

"We're excited to get the 2014 season going, we had a great preseason and saw a ton of progress every day, and we are looking forward to showing that progression to our supporters," said head coach Iain Byers. "Road games always add a few challenges but we feel that we are fully prepared as a coaching staff and we have a lot of away games this year, so it is something we have to get used to quickly."

Longwood will open the regular season on the road for just the second time in six years. The Lancers return 13 players from a squad that finished 10-12 overall and 6-2 in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) a season ago. Entering their inaugural year in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Lancers are led by Jennifer Burris who scored five goals and dished five assists a year ago to pace all returners. Other notable returners include sophomore midfielder Ellen Ross and senior defender Kelley Fay, both of whom provide a wealth of leadership after starting all 22 games of the 2013 campaign.

"Taking on a leadership role this fall, I am striving to set an example and be a positive teammate for the large amount of young players we are lucky to call our teammates this year," said Fay. "I am so excited to see how we perform this season in the MAC and hope to make it to the championship game."

The Lancers will certainly have a flavor of youth on the field as nearly half the squad is comprised of freshmen or first-year players.  Longwood welcomed 11 newcomers to the roster and many of them saw significant action in preseason. All told, the blue and white could start four or five newcomers this weekend.

Longwood begins the weekend by facing Holy Cross Saturday, Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. The clash will mark the first time the Lancers and Crusaders have met in field hockey. Holy Cross returns nine starters from a team that went 5-12 overall last season and finished sixth in the Patriot League. The Crusaders are led by junior Katy Cronin who tallied five goals and three assists in 2013. The 5-12 mark is the best record for Holy Cross since the 2008 season. The Crusaders, under the direction of fifth-year head coach Zowie Tucker, were picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League.

The Lancers will follow Saturday's matchup with a Sunday afternoon matinee against UMass Lowell at 1 p.m. The matchup will once again be a first as Longwood and UMass Lowell have never squared off on the field. The River Hawks are led by 13th year head coach Shannon Hlebichuk. UMass Lowell is entering its second season of NCAA Division I competition and its second year as a member of the America East Conference. Under Hlebichuk's leadership, UMass Lowell developed into a Division II powerhouse, winning three straight conference tournaments and making six straight NCAA Championships before making the jump to Division I. The River Hawks struggled to a 2-16 record in their first year as a Division I program and are slotted fifth in the America East preseason poll.

The two-game opening weekend should be a good test for the Lancers, who are looking for their first 2-0 start in over a decade.

"Both Holy Cross and UMass Lowell are good teams which we feel will be competitive with us, but we feel that we can do well if we play to our ability and work hard," Byers stated.

LiveStats are available for both games this weekend and Sunday's contest versus UMass Lowell will be webcast on AmericaEast.com. Following the tournament, Longwood travels to James Madison for a Friday night contest before returning home for the first time against VCU on Sunday, Aug. 7.