FARMVILLE, Va. – Before Friday's home finale against Ball State, Longwood field hockey celebrated its five-member senior class. Thanks to those same seniors, the celebration continued well after the final whistle.
 
Sparked by first-half goals from seniors Sophia Loscher and Rio Weber and boosted by a combined three assists from seniors Kolbey Donahue, Jamie Wright and Weber, Longwood (9-5, 4-2 MAC) cruised past MAC foe Ball State (4-11, 2-4 MAC) at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
 
Graduate student Cammy Toddy, who celebrated her own senior day last season before returning to Longwood for a fifth year in 2021, also scored the first goal of the game, while sophomore Ana Paula Lazaro punctuated the runaway win with two goals in the second half. Three-time All-MAC first-team defender Luna Lopez also dished two assists on penalty corners as the Lancers stayed atop the MAC scoring leaderboard with their third game with at least five goals this season.
 
"Our goal today was to keep composure and keeps our heads throughout the game, similar to what we did against Liberty under a lot of pressure," said Donahue, who helped anchor a defensive effort that did not allow a goal until the 49th minute and assisted senior goalkeeper Madison Nuckols in earning her ninth win of the season.
 
"We knew we would have more time today, but we didn't want to take it. We wanted to play at the level we wanted and set the tone. We came out hard. We've been executing on our corners, and we wanted to keep that up. We did well earning them and executing as well.
 
Longwood engineered 12 penalty corners and scored on four of those, with Loscher, Weber and Lazaro all earning their goals on set-piece plays. Now with a MAC-leading 41 goals this season, the Lancers have surpassed 40 goals for only the second time since joining the conference in 2014 and are nine shy of their MAC-era record of 50 set in 2016.
 
The four-goal win also concluded a dominant stretch at home this fall for the Lancers, who went 6-1 at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field and outscored those seven opponents 25-4. Their lone loss was a 3-1 defeat to No. 12 Liberty, which entered that Oct. 17 contest as the nation's top scoring team.
 
Now with the regular-season finale against MAC foe Ohio looming on Oct. 30, the Lancers remain in the hunt for a top seed in the MAC Championship tournament. Currently in third place behind Kent State and Miami – both at 4-1 in league play – a win against Ohio would secure Longwood's spot in the four-team tournament field.
 
"After Liberty and the energy and mentality we've had since that game, we have to carry that on through," Donahue said. "We have to keep playing Longwood field hockey. We're gritty, we're aggressive and we want to keep that up. We'll make them play us and beat us."
 
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