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FARMVILLE, Va. –
Jennifer Burris scored a pair of unassisted goals to lead Longwood to a 5-2 win over MAC foe Central Michigan on a rainy Friday afternoon at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
Playing in a steady drizzle for the entire contest, Burris registered her second career multi-goal game to lead the Lancers (3-4, 1-1 MAC) to their second straight win. The senior forward has now scored in three straight games and moves into a tie for 10th place on Longwood's all-time goals list with 26 during her four year-career.
Burris was one of four goal-scorers on the day for Longwood, which also saw
Lil-Sophie Achterwinter,
Brenna Kinzel and
Edel Nyland find the back of the net.
"It was a tough, tough game. Although the scoreboard shows 5-2, I think it was a lot closer," said Longwood head coach
Iain Byers. "We just executed a little better up front. Our counterattack play was really strong, and our ball movement was good which caused a lot of effective attacks."
Longwood hammered a season-high 12 shots on goal against the Chippewas (0-8, 0-1 MAC) and punctuated the win with a penalty corner goal that went from insert
Maddie Kendrick to stopper
Becky Danaher to shooter Achterwinter. The goal was the first of the season for Achterwinter, who alongside defensive-minded midfielder
Meghan O'Connor helped to hold Central Michigan to just six shots on goal.
"Defensively, Central Michigan worked us very hard," Byers said. "They had some great ball movement of their own and really challenged us in a lot of areas.
"We're happy to come out with the win. This was a team last year we lost to, and this year we beat. It's good to be 1-1 in the MAC, but we still have a couple more targets. I think we can play better, and I don't think we're quite where we need to be, but the MAC Championship is the goal and we want to be playing our best there."
The win gives the Lancers three wins in their past four games with the lone loss during that span coming 2-1 at the hands of MAC preseason No. 2 pick Miami (Ohio). Burris has scored four goals during that span, while Longwood has outscored the opposition 10-6 and outshot them on goal 36-23. Burris, Nyland and senior
Hollie MacDonald have combined for eight goals during that span, while Achterwinter and Kinzel also got on the board for their first scores of the season. Kinzel's was also the first of her career.
"I'm really, really proud of my team," said Kinzel, a 5-0 midfielder who has started six straight games. "We've been working so hard, and it didn't just start this season. Coming into the spring, we had a completely new mindset. We're finally starting to put actions to our words, and it's getting us somewhere. I'm really excited for the rest of the season."
With Friday's win, Longwood has held five consecutive opponents to two goals or fewer. The Lancers will look to extend that defensive success Sunday in a MAC showdown against reigning champion Kent State. The Golden Flash, who entered the season as the preseason favorite in the MAC coaches poll, welcome the Lancers to Kent, Ohio, for a noon tipoff.
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