KENNESAW, Ga. - Longwood senior captain Sarah Butler went on a scoring rampage with a season-high five goals, including the game-winner, to propel Longwood women's lacrosse to an 18-15 win over Kennesaw State in Sunday afternoon's shootout at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

Butler, who extends her three-goal performance streak to four games, scored the eventual go-ahead goal 32 seconds into the second half after shaking a Kennesaw State defender inside the circle for the first of Longwood's (2-3) eight goals in the period en route to the team's second straight victory. The senior attacker came alive in the second half with four goals and one assist to overshadow three-goal performances from Kennesaw State's Olivia Hokanson and Connor Zophy.

"I'm glad I could help contribute to my team's success," said Butler. "We had a battle on our hands today, but we weren't going to let them win. We knew we had the skills to come away with the win as long as we executed our gameplan, and we did."

After the Owls fought their way back into the game with a 5-2 scoring run to end the first half, the Lancers took over as Butler gave them a spark with three goals in the first six minutes of the second half. Butler, Longwood's leading scorer with 15 goals, followed up her go-ahead goal with back-to-back goals off assists from Madison Stair and Lisa Schell to give the Lancers a two-goal cushion with 24 minutes remaining.

A few moments later, Longwood extended the lead to 16-12 with under 18 minutes to go following three straight goals from Hollyn Royster, Lisa Schell and Butler. Senior attacker Katie McHugh found Royster open to give the duo their second pass-to-goal connection of the day at the 40-minute mark.

Over the next two minutes, Butler tallied her third assist after setting up Schell and then capitalized on a Kennesaw turnover for her fourth goal on the day. The goal and assist gave the Melbourne, Australia product eight goals and six assists for the weekend.

After seeing the deficit rise to four goals, the Owls put in back-to-back to back goals upon back-to-back goals from Shannon Moore and Hokanson which cut Longwood's lead in half. The junior attacker Hokanson added her third goal of the day in the game to bring the score to 16-14 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

In response to the Kennesaw St. efforts to stage a comeback, Longwood senior defender Shiloh McKenzie scored two goals in the final minutes to seal a Lancer victory. After scoring her first goal off a pass from McHugh with 12:05 to go, McKenzie forced a turnover and recovered the ground ball which set her up for Longwood's season-high 18th goal with 2:40 remaining before time wound down.

Freshman defender Cassie Angeles, scored two straight goals for Longwood midway through the first half after converting a free position shot and then finding space in the circle for an unassisted goal to give the Lancers an 8-5 lead. Angeles enjoyed a breakout game with a career-high three goals, each coming in the first half. The Lancers held their highest lead of the half at 4-0 after Angeles, Royster and Stair each found the net within the first eight minutes of the game.

The Owls responded to Longwood's challenge with five goals, as Kennesaw State attackers Olivia Hokanson and Connor Zophy each found the net twice to even the score 10-10 entering halftime. The sophomore tandem of Hokanson and Zophy combined for six goals, but their team never was able to pull to gain a lead over the Lancers in its comeback attempt.

Possession proved to be a huge factor in the game each team, as Longwood finished with a 37-31 advantage in shots after winning the battle in draw controls 20-15. The Lancers were led by Butler in both categories with six draw controls and nine shots.

In addition, Longwood caused 20 Kennesaw St. turnovers on the day, including the game-changing turnover picked up by its defensive captain McKenzie in the final five minutes.

Two days after tying for or recording team-highs in assists and goals against Mercer, McHugh tallied a season-high four assists along with two goals for Longwood to give the team's weekend assist leader seven goals and seven assists in the past two games.

Sophomore goalkeeper Imani West earned her second straight victory with five saves in the circle for Longwood. West also contributed to the Lancer advantage in caused turnovers with one.

"I am proud of the performances from every one of my teammates all weekend long and we are very happy to have ended the weekend on a positive note," Butler said.

Longwood will look to win its third straight next weekend when the team returns home to take on Mt. St. Mary's Saturday, March 5. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Athletics Complex.

#GoWood