FARMVILLE, Va. – With a lineup full of invited Longwood faculty in the stands for "Professor Appreciation Day," the surging Longwood lacrosse team passed its most recent test with flying colors.
 
Propelled by late offensive surge spearheaded by Dana Joss and a team-wide defensive stronghold in the closing minutes, Longwood (7-8, 4-1 Big South) extended its win streak to four straight and strengthened its hold on second place in the Big South with a 13-10 win over Big South power Campbell Wednesday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
 
Joss scored two of her three goals and dished the last of her four assists in the final 15 minutes of the game to help Longwood overcome a 9-8 deficit and hold off a Campbell (5-10, 2-3 Big South) team that reached last year's Big South Championship game and was picked to finish second in the conference in this year's Big South preseason coaches poll.
 
"That was a really exciting team win," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones, whose four-game win streak ties for the longest of her seven-year Longwood tenure and is just two shy of the program's Division I record of six straight set in 2005.
 
"[Assistant coach Jenna Kasmarik] and I are both so proud of the effort, attention to detail, enthusiasm and execution that our team continues to display as we work toward achieving our conference goals. They really earned this win, and it was awesome. We can enjoy it for tonight and then get back to work tomorrow to begin preparations for our last conference game. Also I'd like to thank the professors who came to the game for 'Professor Appreciation Day.' We loved having them run onto the field with our student-athletes for the lineup announcement."
 
Longwood's most recent win one full of momentum swings, featuring four lead changes and a series of runs from both sides. Longwood strung together six unanswered goals from the end of the first half through the first nine minutes of the second half, but the Fighting Camels  countered with a 5-0 run of their own to erase Longwood's 9-4 lead and tie the score at 9-9 with just under 16 minutes to play.
 
However, Longwood took control for good when Joss found Emma Johnson for ago-ahead strike that put that put the Lancers ahead 10-9 with 14:39 on the clock. Joss scored twice more before the final whistle, including her unassisted strike with 13:46 left to play that proved to be the eventual game-winner. She and junior classmate Lexi Davis followed by punctuating the win with back-to-back goals to send the Lancers to their first win over reigning Big South runner-up Campbell since 2016.
 
The Lancers have now won five of their past six games with three of those wins, including Wednesday's, coming by three goals or fewer.
 
"Our coaches prepared us amazingly," said freshman attacker Nicole Fordyce, who scored two of Longwood's first three goals. "We went into the game knowing the gameplan and knowing what we needed to execute. We played the whole 60 minutes, which made a huge difference.
 
"We definitely had that momentum coming into the game, and I think playing on our home turf made a difference too. Knowing this was our last home game and knowing we can get that second seed for the conference tournament really gave us a boost."
 
With the win, Longwood secures a spot in the Big South Championship tournament, which this year adopted a new four-team format in the seven-team league. Now tied for second place in the standings with Winthrop – which the Lancers routed 14-4 this past Saturday – Longwood's regular-season finale comes this Saturday at Presbyterian (1-14, 0-4 Big South) in Clinton, S.C.
 
Now guaranteed no lower than a third-place finish in the conference, the Lancers have already matched their highest-ever finish in Big South play and have room to best that mark Saturday.
 
Joss and sophomore Emma Johnson both registered hat tricks with Joss adding four assists for a team-high seven points. Nicole Fordyce and Kaitlin Luccarelli also added two goals apiece, while Davis posted three points with a pair of assists.
 
Longwood freshman goalkeeper Danielle Burke continued her breakout freshman campaign with nine saves, four of which were on free-position shots. The last of those came with the score tied 9-9 when she stopped Laura Will on a free-position attempt to initiate the ensuing possession that culminated with Johnson's go-ahead goal.
 
Now the Lancers will have two days to prepare for their final bout of the regular season, a road showdown at Presbyterian (1-14, 0-4 Big South). The Big South Championship will begin the following Friday, April 26, in the semifinals.
 
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