OXFORD, Ohio – After falling behind to the No. 1 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the Longwood field hockey team showed the fight and resilience that has been on display all season in a furious comeback attempt that fell just short.
 
Laila Richter scored twice for the Golden Flashes (11-8, 5-1 MAC) as they held on to beat the Lancers 2-1 on Friday afternoon. Sophia Loscher got the Lancers on the board with just over five minutes remaining, and came close to finding the equalizer in an outstanding late effort against a Kent State team that dropped their lone conference game this season to the Lancers.
 
"It has been an amazing journey this season," said head coach Iain Byers. "There were challenges that we overcame as a group, and I am so proud of them. It is obviously a disappointing result, but the effort was there against a strong team."
 
Longwood (9-10, 3-3 MAC) ended their season having achieved several milestones, including their first MAC Tournament win in program history the day prior in a 2-1 win over Ball State. The 2019 team featured six All-MAC players, the most for Longwood since joining the MAC in 2014 and the most in the conference this season. This group is highlighted by senior Katie Wyman, who earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Camila Duarte, who took the title of Freshman of the Year for the second straight year for Longwood. Luna Lopez won the award a season ago, and she earned All-MAC first team for the second straight season. Charlotte Wilm, Karly Harwood, and Sophia Loscher all received second team honors for the first time.
 
The Lancers will bid farewell to a senior class of four starters. The class, made up of Olivia Wawrzyniak, Briana Greene, Clara Meschini, and Wyman, helped lead the program to a four-year record of 38-32, including a 14-10 record in MAC play with three top-three conference finishes.
 
"These four seniors have been amazing representatives—we love them lots," added Byers. "We are going to miss them—they bestowed every virtue that we have asked. They have faced all the challenges that they had to face and overcame them. We are going to miss them greatly, but we are so proud that they are Longwood Lancers."  
 
In the first half, Kent State recorded just two shots on goal despite seven penalty corners, as Rio Weber, Lopez, Meschni, Greene and the Lancer defense helped prevent shots from reaching Katie Wyman, who ended with two saves in a scoreless first half.
 
Early in the third quarter, Weber helped save a goal for Longwood—a penalty corner shot from the top of the arc reached the net, but Weber was able to deflect it with her stick for a defensive save to keep the score tied 0-0. Wyman would add a highlight reel save of her own shortly after, sliding to deny a Kent State opportunity in the arc.
 
However, Richter would break the ice for Kent State in the third quarter. After a quick restart, Richter fired a shot through traffic that snuck into the corner of the goal past a screened Wyman to give the Golden Flashes a 1-0 lead. They would add a second in the fourth quarter, when an umpire referral awarded a penalty stroke to Kent State. Richter was able to lift a shot into the corner for her second goal of the game that gave the Golden Flashes a 2-0 lead.
 
Longwood would respond with a wave of offensive pressure that culminated in their first goal of the game. After the initial shot on a penalty corner sequence was saved, Loscher got to the loose ball in the arc and fired it home, making it 2-1 with under six minutes to play. The Lancers battled to the final buzzer, but could not get the equalizer in time as they fell by a final of 2-1.
 
"I feel like late in the game we had an intense pressure," said Briana Greene, who ended the season with a career high three assists. "I think the effort was definitely there, and the determination was definitely there—it was a good note to end on even though we had a loss. I know all of our teammates really tried and worked for each other and not individually, so I was really proud of that."
 
Byers will return seven starters next season, including MAC Freshman of the Year Camila Duarte, All-MAC first team Luna Lopez, and All-MAC second team Charlotte Wilm, Sophia Loscher, and Karly Harwood as they look to build on a milestone season.
 
#GoWood