KENT, Ohio – After a tough overtime loss on senior night last Friday, Luna Lopez, Katie Wyman, and the Lancers bounced back in a huge way.
 
The Longwood field hockey team made history, defeating Kent State for the first time since joining the MAC in a 2-1 double-overtime victory on Saturday afternoon. Lopez scored twice, including the golden-goal in overtime, while Wyman stood tall in net to hand Kent State (10-8, 5-1 MAC) their first MAC defeat of the season. Already having clinched at least a share of the MAC conference title, Longwood spoiled what could have been an outright title for the Golden Flashes with the win.
 
"I am very happy and proud of the team for the hard work that they put in," said head coach Iain Byers, who now has his team at 3-3 in conference play. "It was definitely a performance that we can all be very proud of. I think the fight and commitment, as well as the execution, were better today. So, I am really proud and it is a beautiful way to set up going into the MAC tournament."
 
After a string of narrow defeats including four by one goal since joining the MAC in 2014, the Lancers (8-9, 3-3 MAC) were finally able to power past Kent State. Luna Lopez, asked to switch to a defensive role after starting the season with two goals and two assists as a midfielder, made two huge contributions on offense today. The reigning MAC Freshman of the Year tallied the two Longwood goals, both at clutch moments coming on penalty corner set pieces including the golden goal in overtime.
 
"In the first half we played really individually, but in the second half we played with a lot of passes," said Luna Lopez, who now has four goals on the season. "We took our chances on corners and both goals came on the corners, which was a key thing for us."
 
The sophomore knotted the game at 1-1 at the end of the third quarter when she took an insertion from teammate Jamie Wright and rocketed a shot by Kent State goalkeeper Azure Fernsler for the equalizer. Later, in the second overtime period, Lopez received a pass from Caroline Verhappen and launched a perfect shot into the right corner of the goal before she was mobbed by her teammates in celebration. The assist was the freshman Verhappen's first of her collegiate career.
 
Two-time All-MAC performer Katie Wyman was excellent in net for the Lancers, who needed her strong play to get into overtime. After conceding a first half goal on a penalty corner, Wyman shutdown the Golden Flashes the rest of the way. Following Luna's equalizer, Wyman made two monster saves in the fourth quarter, including a sprawling save on a penalty corner, to get the game to overtime. In total, she made four saves as she closed her regular season as the MAC leader in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts.
 
Defensively, the backline of Lopez, Rio Weber, and Clara Meschini was excellent for Longwood as they held Kent State to just 11 shots. The Lancers totaled 12 shots, with Olivia Wawrzyniak and Jamie Wright each leading the way with three apiece.
 
The field is now set for the MAC Conference Tournament in Oxford, Ohio. Longwood will enter as the fifth seed, set to square off against Ball State on Thursday, Nov. 7 with a rematch against Kent State on the line. Play will begin at 10:30 a.m.
 
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