ATHENS, Ohio – In a regular-season finale between the Mid-American Conference's two highest-scoring offenses, Ohio used a first-half flurry to topple Longwood 5-2 Saturday at Pruitt Field and join the Lancers in securing a spot in the upcoming MAC Championship tournament. Â
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Playing for the fourth and final spot in the MAC postseason, the Bobcats (7-11, 4-3 MAC) shot out of the gate with five goals in the first 25:53 of the game and rode that cushion to their postseason-clinching fourth MAC victory. The five goals were the most the Lancers have allowed this season and marked only their third multi-goal loss of the season.
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Despite the loss, Longwood retains the No. 3 seed in the MAC Championship bracket, while Ohio secures the No. 4 seed. The Lancers have now earned top-three MAC finishes in four of the past five seasons.
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The first of Ohio's goals came from Noa Desmaretz just 3:06 after the opening whistle, and the second came just nine minutes later from Sienna Sakich. The Bobcats carried that momentum into the second quarter with three more strikes, including a penalty stroke from Meela Kopp that ran the score to 3-0 and back-to-back goals from the MAC's No. 2 scoring leader Jillian Shive, who also scored her second on a penalty stroke.
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The Lancers (9-6, 4-3 MAC) righted the ship after halftime by shutting out Ohio the rest of the way and finding the net twice, courtesy of
Floor Schouten and
Luna Lopez, but Ohio's first-half cushion proved too much to overcome. Continuing a season-long trend, both of Longwood's goals came off of penalty corners, with senior
Jamie Wright inserting the first to
Ana Paula Lazaro, and junior
Caroline Verhappen playing in the second directly to Lopez.
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The loss comes in Longwood's final regular season matchup of the season and sends the Lancers into the MAC Championship tournament where they will face No. 2 seed Kent State in the semifinals this Friday, Nov. 5, at 2:30 p.m. on No. 1 seed Miami's home field in Oxford, Ohio. A win in the semifinals would propel Longwood into the MAC Championship game against the winner of No. 1 Miami and No. 4 Ohio on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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