KENT, Ohio – A valiant season for Longwood field hockey came to an end Friday afternoon at the hands of three-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Kent State 4-2 in conference tournament semifinals action.

Facing off against perennial MAC power Kent State (9-9, 5-1 MAC) on their home turf, Longwood (11-6, 4-2 MAC) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the sixth minute behind senior forward Edel Nyland's 11th goal of the season, but the Lancers were unable to hold on down the stretch.

"This was one of our most competitive years due to the commitment from the team, the leadership of the seniors and the approach to every practice. I couldn't have asked for more," 10th-year head coach Iain Byers said on his team's success in 2017. "I've enjoyed coaching them all year. They've been a great team, easy to work with and absorbed everything we threw their way. I'm deeply devastated for them, but this is a good foundation and something to build from."

Behind four goals from four different players, the Golden Flashes were able to erase the 1-0 hole and take claim of the contest thanks to a 3-2 halftime lead and early second-half goal.

Joining Nyland in the score column was junior Leonie Verstraete – who matched her breakout 14-goal sophomore season in 2016. Verstraete's 28 goals the past two seasons are just one behind Nyland's 29 as the Utrecht, Netherlands native has been named an All-MAC performer both campaigns.

Friday's loss was the end of eight seniors' careers – Lil-Sophie Achterwinter, Kate Colley, Maddie Kendrick, Brenna Kinzel, Lorissa Morton, Nyland, Abbey Ripley and Sarah Vrhovac – as the group rounds out their days in the blue and white as the first class to play their entire careers inside the MAC.

"If this is the foundation we expect it to be, then you can look back and say that each block is a building block from the year before. Hopefully 10 years from now the seniors can look back and be proud of everything they did," Byers said. "That's the goal with every player."

In Friday's contest, Kent State used a higher shot total (13-10), six penalty corner opportunities and a penalty stroke at the end of the first half to outlast a resilient Longwood team that forced an overtime period the last time the squads faced off in October.

In goal, junior Katie Wyman collected four saves against 13 shots allowing four goals – once coming on a penalty stroke.

Of the 10 total shots, Verstraete paced the Lancers with five while Nyland had two and the trio of Kendrick, Ripley and Olivia Wawrzyniak each sent a shot towards Kent State's Kylie LeBlanc.

Across their four seasons, the eight have combined to raise the bar of expectations with their back-to-back MAC tournament appearances, five All-MAC honors, the program's best conference play record and 33 overall wins.

"One thing that I'm going to take away is the family that we've formed here. The heart that we all have – there are no words to describe the feeling," said senior Brenna Kinzel on her time as a Lancer.

Fellow senior midfielder Maddie Kendrick added, "This year we all really committed to all of the values our coaches gave us. We did everything they asked of us and it's just bittersweet to put in all that hard work, follow those values to a 'tee' and not get the outcome."

"I'll always remember us implementing those subconsciously – Coach Byers said that's the key to our success, when we subconsciously put those hockey values to work. I'll remember that we did everything we were asked. I know teams before us and after, if they do that, will just keep getting better and we'll get the result we want."

The future looks bright for Longwood as they will return 16 of their 24 members including All-MAC second teamers Wyman and Clara Meschini along with first team member Verstraete and a whole cast of key contributors.

"I think Longwood field hockey is just going to continue growing. We've set a high standard we want to be here (in the tournament) so bad, and we know we can be here. We know we have that in us," senior forward Sarah Vrhovac said of the future of Longwood field hockey. "It's just going to spark a fire and they're going to continue fighting for it and wanting it because not having it my first two seasons was terrible, and once you have it you don't want to lose it."

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