FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood women's lacrosse team opens the 2015 season this Sunday with a road trip to Navy to face the Midshipmen in a 2:30 p.m. matchup at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
The Lancers head to Annapolis with a squad made up of 10 returning starters and 12 letterwinners, including preseason All-Big South selections Christian Acker, Sarah Butler and Katie McHugh. Those three, with Acker in goal, Butler at midfield and McHugh on the front line, make up the core of a Lancer program that is coming off back-to-back third-place finishes in the Big South and was picked by the league's coaches to finish among the top three again in 2015.
 
Acker is one of seven Longwood seniors who begin their final campaign in the blue and white Sunday. A three-year starter, she will anchor the Lancers from the net where she has started 33 of Longwood's past 37 games.
 
Acker will have work cut out for her against a Navy team that lost the program's all-time goal scorer, Aimee Gennaro, but returns two of its top three scorers in Loren Generi and Katie Gallagher. Generi, a three-time all-league selection, led the Mids with 46 goals, 34 assists and 80 points in 2014, while Gallagher totaled 22 goals and 19 assists as a spark plug to an offense that averaged 12.5 goals per game last season.
 
Longwood and Navy have met in seven consecutive seasons with Navy leading the series 6-1. The Lancers have come away winless in three trips to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, though the last two games on Navy's home field were decided by a combined four goals.
 
The road game at Navy precedes Longwood's home opener against Elon on Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
 
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