ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy's Julia Collins, Loren Generi and Codi Mullen each pulled off hat tricks to lead the Mids past Longwood, 17-2, Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
In the season opener for both teams, it was Patriot League powerhouse Navy that played the aggressor by firing 27 of 36 shots on goal. Longwood goalkeeper and Big South All-Preseason Team selection Christian Acker stopped 10 of those, but Navy's high-volume attack was enough to break through a Longwood defense that returns two of three back-end starters from last year's third-place Big South team.
 
The 27 shots were the second-most Acker has faced in her three seasons in goal for the Lancers. The senior keeper withstood a Navy offense that attacked the net from all angles and saw eight different players score goals, including Generi, who registered a game-high six points with three assists.
 
The Mids scored the first three goals of the game before Longwood got on the board six minutes in with back-to-back scores from junior Sarah Butler and senior Sarah Arndt. Collins, Casey Browne and Generi scored in succession before Butler answered the call with her first goal of the year at the 24:02 mark. Arndt followed 39 seconds later to cut Navy's lead to 3-2, but it was all Mids from there.
 
Navy ended the half on a 5-0 run and then shut out the Lancers 9-0 in the second period. Navy goalkeeper Annie Foky came away with the win after racking up five saves in over 50 minutes of action before yielding the net to Ingrid Boyum, who saved the only shot she faced over her nine-plus minutes in goal.
 
Longwood will make its home debut next week, hosting Elon on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Longwood Athletics Complex. Admission to the game is free.

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