FARMVILLE, Va. – For roughly 60 minutes Friday, Longwood bottled up Towson and controlled the game, but a 10 minute spurt to open the second half landed Towson three goals and an insurmountable lead.

Towson (2-5) broke through in the 38th minute when Kelly Mattingly found a loose ball off a corner and sent a bouncing shot into the cage. The flood gates were suddenly open, as a Tigers team that struggled to produce in the first half unleashed a furious nine minute run. Four minutes after the initial goal, Courtney Branco broke away and bounced the lead to 2-0. At 46:37, Meg Stuart notched the third and final Towson goal after the ball ricocheted off a Longwood stick into the path of Stuart.

Eight minutes, 49 seconds – that was all it took for Towson to send the Lancers reeling after what was a decent start.

Longwood (3-6, 1-2) commanded the ball for virtually the entire first half, rarely allowing Towson to cross the midfield stripe. A few counter-attacks afforded Towson two shots on goal, one a weak attempt that was swept away by defender Kate Harvey, the other saved by Lauren Bernard . The rest of the 35-minute half was played almost exclusively in the Longwood attacking half, but the Lancers struggled to enter the circle and ended the half without a shot on target.

Despite the huge deficit, Longwood continued fighting and very nearly completed a miraculous comeback. In the 50th minute, Edel Nyland sent a shot bound for the back of the cage that hit a Towson defender's foot on the line, awarding the Lancers a penalty stroke. Hollie MacDonald stepped up to the spot and sent her shot low and into the left corner to pull Longwood to 3-1.

Just over eight minutes later, Vanessa Tapper took the ball on the left side of the circle, dribbled across the face of goal and sent a low drive to the back corner making it a 3-2 game. Longwood had all the moment and poured numbers forward, launching five shots in the final six minutes. A game-tying goal appeared imminent, but Towson blocked four shots and Megan Boyle stopped Nyland's last ditch effort to preserve the victory.

Longwood will look to move past the disappointing result Saturday at noon against Vermont at the Athletics Complex. This will be third time Longwood has played back-to-back games this season.