Box Score OXFORD, Ohio – Longwood's Mid-American Conference debut didn't go exactly as planned. The Lancers fell behind early and could never recover, falling 3-1 to two-time defending champion Miami (OH) Saturday at the Miami Field Hockey Complex.
"Miami is a great team, they are the defending MAC champions," said head coach
Iain Byers. "I think we're disappointed but it was a good lesson for our team. Now we have to learn from it and bounce back tomorrow at Ohio. Our goal is to come away .500 in conference play."
The day began innocently enough, Longwood (2-3, 0-1) put the first shot of the day on goal as freshman
Edel Nyland, who leads the MAC in shots, was stopped by Miami keeper Alysa Xavier. From that point on, the first half belonged to the Redhawks.
Miami (1-5, 1-0) staked a 1-0 lead at 10:15 when Ali Froede, the Redhawks leading scorer a season ago, found her first goal of 2014 off of a corner. Miami inserted the ball to Henni Otten who swung it around to Froede for the finish.
Miami would add on to the lead just five minutes later. This time, it was Valentina Neira who slotted it home from seven yards out on the left side of the circle. The goal was the first of Neira's two scores on the day.
The Redhawks pressure was relentless, Miami nearly made it 3-0 just two minutes later off of their third corner of the day. A defensive save by senior
Kelley Fay and a stop by
Lauren Bernard kept Longwood averted the danger and kept Longwood within reach.
Longwood seemed to settle in just a bit for the final 18 minutes of the half. The Lancers mustered a chance off a penalty corner and had another shot that required Alysa Xavier to turn it away, but Longwood could not find a way through.
Miami ripped away any momentum Longwood created with a late goal, just 80 seconds before the break. Again, it was Valentina Neira who unlocked the Lancers defense and tallied her second goal of the day, making it a 3-0 Miami lead at the half.
The second half proved to be more even as Longwood was able to match Miami stride for stride. Even then, Longwood was never able to find the chance that might have pulled the blue and white back into the game.
The Lancers managed to break through in the 60th minute, as
Jennifer Burris scored her team leading fourth goal of the season. Freshman
Brenna Kinzel earned her first assist on the play as she found Burris on the left side of the cage. Burris then beat the keeper sending the ball into the back corner for Longwood's lone goal.
"We had a good final 15 minutes," said Byers. "I think that was good for our team."
The Lancers would threaten one final time with just under a minute to play, but Miami withstood the final surge claiming the 3-1 victory.
Longwood has a quick turnaround as the Lancers will look to bounce back against Ohio tomorrow afternoon. Ohio (1-3) is coming off a big win against rival Ohio State Friday night. The meeting is just the second all-time between the Lancers and Bobcats.
