Box Score (HTML)
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Young and hungry teams can be dangerous when you enter their turf.
The Lancers' attack didn't get that memo Tuesday.
Just two games and 10 days after setting a career-high with six assists versus Howard, Longwood (4-5) senior attacker
Riley Dolan tied the program record with a historic three-goal, eight-assist performance to lead the Lancers past a stingy East Carolina (1-10) squad 17-13 Tuesday evening.
"I'm very proud of our team's effort tonight against a gritty opponent on their home field," said sixth-year head coach
Elaine Jones. "We had a few lapses in the first half where we turned the ball over too much and gave up momentum we'd created for ourselves, but as the game progressed we were able to adjust our game plan and swing the momentum back in our favor."
Dolan, who already led the squad in points entering the contest, tacked on 11 more thanks to her prolific passing display. Her eight assists tied the program record for single-game assists set back in 2013 by former great
Lauren Prasnicki, while her 11 total points tied the program's third-best single-game performance.
Dolan's career day headlined an efficient offensive day in which the Lancers collected assists on 14 of their 17 goals – just one assist shy of the team's season high. Sophomore attacker
Kaitlin Luccarelli scored a career-best five goals to lead the Lancers while
Dana Joss' personal-best four tallies,
Charleigh Kondas added two and the trio of
Madison Stair,
Lexi Davis and
Molly Barkman all added a goal.
Despite a 6-0 East Carolina run that closed the first half and extended into the early stages of the second, it was the senior Dolan who dished out five timely assists in the second half to help the Lancers overcome a 10-7 deficit on their 10-3 game-closing run.
In that second-half surge, five different Lancers found the back of the net including all four of
Dana Joss' goals, three from Luccarelli – her fourth coming as the game-winner, and one each from the trio of Dolan, Stair and Kondas.
"It was nice to see the offense connect," Jones said. "Kaitlin [Luccarelli] and Dana [Joss] had great shooting performances and Riley [Dolan] had a great day assisting."
Tuesday's win was the first road victory for the Lancers in 2018 and their third win over the past four attempts. The shootout victory gave the Lancers a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series as the Pirates are in their first season as a program.
The second half Lancer heroics were enough to overcome hat tricks from ECU's Nicole Legar and Emma Bowman and Morgan Cheripko's game-high 12 draws.
Barkman and Stair each won six draws as they collected 12 of the Lancers' 13. Tuesday's victory also marked the third time Longwood was able to win despite winning fewer draws than their opponent.
Longwood returns home Sunday as they make their Big South Network debut with an afternoon affair with Saint Francis. First draw goes up at 1 p.m. between the Lancers and Red Flash.
#GoWood
