FARMVILLE, Va. – The Lancers knew coming into the game they had a tough challenge in front of them in the form of a top-five opponent. Although they held their own in the match, ultimately Virginia's high powered offense proved too much.
 
The Longwood field hockey team was defeated by No. 5 Virginia, 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field. The ACC power took a lead they would never relinquish on the strength of two first half goals before adding a third in the fourth quarter. Junior Charlotte Wilm was able to tally a late goal for the Lancers.
 
"There are positives from the game," said head coach Iain Byers. "Obviously Virginia is a very good, top-five ranked team in the country, so that is no mean feat—there are a lot of other teams that have done a lot worse. We knew this was going to be a game where a lot of pressure was on us, but we stuck to our game plan well for most of the time. We are happy with elements of our performance, our tenacity, and our ability to defend. I think we would have liked a little bit more possession in the midfield, but it was a good performance."
 
Virginia (8-2) remains with just two losses on the season, falling only to Big Ten power Maryland in overtime, and to the defending national champions, and current No. 1 ranked team in the country, North Carolina. Their high octane offense, led by junior striker Makalya Gallen, averages 2.30 goals per game, while their stout defense holds opponents to just 1.30 goals per game.
 
Virginia totaled 20 shots against the Longwood (4-4) defense, but goalkeeper Katie Wyman was able to record nine saves on 12 shots on goal. The nine-save performance was her second most this season, and her first time recording nine saves since Longwood's 4-0 victory over LIU on Aug. 31. Defensively, she was aided by a backline of Luna Lopez, Rio Weber, Clara Meschini.
 
Longwood's lone goal scorer Wilm led the team with three shots. In total, the Lancers tallied seven shots against the Cavaliers. Five different Lancers recorded a shot in the game against a strong Virginia defensive unit.
 
"I feel like our performance today was already an improvement from the days before," said Wilm. "I think it will come with time—we are taking steps in the right direction."
 
Virginia opened the scoring in the second quarter when Laura Janssen was able to dribble around multiple Longwood defenders before ripping a shot past Wyman to give the Cavaliers an early 1-0 lead. Anzel Viljoen doubled the Virginia lead when she redirected teammate Rachel Robinson's shot following a corner to make the score 2-0, where it would stay until halftime.
 
Gallen scored the third goal for Virginia when she took a perfect pass from Annie McDonugh and fired it home to make it 3-0. Wilm's goal for Longwood came on an assist from sophomore Kylie Ryan, who played her a pass in the arc before Wilm was able to squeeze a shot through a crowd of players into the side of the goal to get the Lancers on the board.
 
Longwood will look to get back in the win column on the road Tuesday, Oct. 1 when they face off with William & Mary. The opening push is set to be at 6 p.m.
 
#GoWood