LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty freshman Kayla Foster stunned the Lancers with what proved to be the game-winning goal that thrust Liberty to a shocking 12-11 victory over Longwood women's lacrosse Wednesday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.

Foster, who leads the Flames in points, reeled in a pass from Hanna Pridemore near the right post and then scored the go-ahead goal in the 55th minute to break a 10-10 tie with what wound up being the game-winner. The goal helped the Flames overcome Longwood senior Shiloh McKenzie's four first-half goals, and a late go-ahead goal by fellow Lancer senior Lisa Schell, to hand the Lancers their first conference loss this season.

"It was an evenly contested contest that could have gone either way," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones. "It was nice to see Shiloh get four goals and Cassie three assists, but in the end Liberty's attack got the goal that mattered most."

In addition to the game-winner by Foster, Liberty received an insurance goal from junior attacker Michaela Rich that put her team up 12-10 with 1:54 remaining in the game. Rich's goal ended a stretch of three straight goals for the Flames, which started with a score by senior midfielder Callie Francis to bring the score even at 10-10.

After seeing its one goal halftime lead turn into an 9-7 deficit, Longwood began a rally of three-straight scores sparked by a free position goal by sophomore Riley Dolan with 12:50 remaining. Less than a minute later, senior captain Sarah Butler drew a body of defenders to set up first-year teammate Cassie Angeles for a goal, which the freshman defender then followed up by assisting on the other Lancer senior Schell's 53rd-minute goal to put them up 10-9.

In response to Liberty's scoring run as the game came to a close, Longwood came back with a goal from Schell to bring the Lancers to within one goal with 1:41 on the clock. Schell finished the day with a her own season-high two goals while adding an assist, which came on McKenzie's second goal, in just her second game back from injury.

Following a draw control secured by the Flames on the game's final draw, the Lancers worked hard on defense to regain possession on a turnover caused by Hollyn Royster and a ground ball recovered by Kelly Ward.

With 42 seconds remaining in the game, Longwood called its final timeout to devise a plan for a potential goal to send the game to overtime.

However, Liberty's defensive unit which had disrupted the Longwood attack all day with a game-high 17 caused turnovers, provided one last defensive stop. On the last Lancer possession, Liberty defender Victoria Tickle forced the ball loose with 21 seconds remaining and then nearby teammate Courtney Brown scooped up the groundball before the clock wound down in the final seconds.

Perhaps the most important factor for the Flames' victory was slowing down one of the nation's top attacking combos in Longwood midfielder Butler and attacker Katie McHugh, who entered the week as the top-two point leaders in the country. Butler and McHugh, Longwood's top-two scorers, were held to one goal apiece to finish the game with their second-lowest scoring output as a duo this season.

"Liberty played well and we knew they would focus in on our top goal scorers. We needed our other attackers to step up," said Jones.

On the attack, the Lancers saw multiple players step up to score with six different players finding the net led by McKenzie's personal season-high matching four goals and two from Schell. Also coming through for the Lancers in key moments were sophomore Hollyn Royster, Dolan and Angeles to finish with one goal each in the game.

Although they had many players fill scoring roles, time and ball possession cut the Lancer comeback attempt just short.

Ball possession proved crucial for the Flames, who finished the game with a 21-14 advantage in groundballs and 13 draw controls in comparison to 12 for Longwood. Liberty capitalized on those extra gained possessions to put up their second-highest shot total this season with 31 for the game.

McKenzie, known primarily as a defensive stopper, held the Lancers afloat throughout the first half with Longwood's first two goals en route to providing four of the squad's six goals in the period. The senior defender's fourth score came after she converted another free position shot before the half to complete a 2-for-2 free position shot outing.

The Burke, Va., native McHugh finished with one point just a game after she moved into second place on Longwood's all-time career points chart. McHugh remains 27 points shy of becoming the school's all-time leader in points for a career.

Butler, the other half of Longwood's attacking threat, finished with three assists in addition to her lone goal that came just seven minutes into the second half. Apart from setting up Angeles' goal, Butler also set up McHugh in the 27th minute and McKenzie on her third goal to finish with four points and push her eight points closer to tying a single-season program record with her 70th on the year thus far.

Angeles, who scored at least one goal for the seventh consecutive game, tallied a career-high three assists to finish tied with McKenzie and Butler for the team lead in points at four.

Liberty's Kallie Britton also put in a four-point perfomance with four goals, two of which came as part of her team's run to gain a 9-7 edge with 14:48 left on the game clock.

Flames goalkeeper Katherine Widrick picked up her second career win upon recording four saves in the second-half comeback by Liberty. In spite of being credited with the loss, Longwood sophomore goalkeeper Imani West recorded a game-high eight saves to keep the Lancers afloat all while facing the onslaught of shots by Liberty.

In addition to dropping its first conference game, the Lancers fall for the first time in eight games played in the all-time series vs. the Flames.         

Longwood will have two days to recover before it plays for the second time on its two-game road trip at conference-powerhouse Winthrop Saturday, April 9. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

"We have a quick turnaround to prepare for Winthrop, so we need to just recognize what we did well, learn from our mistakes and move on," Jones said.

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