FARMVILLE, Va. – On senior day in Farmville, Longwood women's lacrosse pulled out a thrilling 12-11 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon for their first Big South win of the season.
 
Nicole Fordyce, who led the Lancers with four goals for Longwood, delivered the game-winning goal with 3:02 to play that broke an 11-11 tie. Senior Dana Joss caused a turnover with 1:48 to play, and the Lancer defense held strong in the final 47 seconds to prevent a shot attempt and secure the win.
 
Saturday's win improved the Lancers to 6-0 in program history over the Bulldogs, as they have now won each of their last two matchups dating back to April 10, 2019 by just a single goal. Both teams attempted 25 shots, while each causing nine turnovers in a razor thing matchup. Gardner-Webb held the edge in draw controls 15-9, but the Lancers led in ground balls by a margin of 19-13.
 
The win also celebrated the careers of six Lancer seniors in Dana Joss, Emma Johnson, Taylor Blenckstone, Hannah Tirrell, Jade O'Connor and Riley Hayden. This group combined for five goals, four assists, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Johnson led the group with two goals, her eighth multi-goal game of the season.
 
The Lancer backline, led by Tirrell, Rachel Abraham, and Lauren Cerretani, combined for four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Cerretani caused three turnovers herself, adding two draw controls. Moomau and Ainsley Rowlison were active in the midfield, each tallying four ground balls to tie for the game lead. In goal, Kylee Wright made seven stops to pick up her second win of the season.
 
"It was an outstanding team effort today to beat Gardner-Webb and I'm so pleased we were able to send our seniors off with a win in our last home game on Senior Day," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones. "There was a palpable feeling of intensity from our players on the field and great energy from our fans in the stands.
 
"I thought we were well prepared and came out of the gates firing, which allowed us to build confidence and a lead right away. Although we ran into a few lulls here and there where our execution failed us and we gave up goals, our players still maintained a resilient mindset."
 
The Lancers got off to a hot start, scoring the first four goals of the game for the third time this season to open a 4-0 lead with 19:05 to play in the first half. This stretch included two senior-to-senior connections, as Joss found Blenckstone for the first goal while Johnson fed O'Connor's for the fourth goal.
 
However, the Bulldogs would end the half on a 4-1 run to close the Lancer lead to just one, 5-4 at halftime. Longwood held a first half edge in shots of 16-12, trailing in draw controls by a margin of 5-4.
 
Gardner-Webb continued their momentum into the beginning of the second half, scoring the first three goals of the final period to mark six straight goals, giving the Bulldogs a 7-5 lead. Francis Talen, who posted a game-high five goals in the game, had three of the six goals during this stretch.
 
Longwood had the answer, rebounding to score the next three goals to retake an 8-7 lead. Joss, Claire Libby, and Ainsley Rowlison each recorded a goal in that stretch, as Longwood used their second run of at least three goals to surge back into the lead with 18:31 to play.
 
In the remaining 15:44, the teams each traded a pair of 2-0 runs in a frantic, back-and-forth finish to close the game featuring four lead changes and four ties. Talen started the stretch, scoring her fourth goal of the game before Hannah Smith added a free position goal just 43 seconds later to put Gardner-Webb back in front, 9-8.
 
Fordyce and Johnson, who scored the final four goals for Longwood, quickly worked to regain the lead. Fordyce knotted the game at 9-9 on a slick feed from Blenckstone. Johnson gave the Lancers the lead  less than two minutes later on a heads-up play—after Haley Moomau's shot was saved, Johnson got to the loose ball and directed it in off a bounce, swatting it into the back of the net to give Longwood a 10-9 lead.
 
After Talen and Aimie Perino added a pair of goals to get back in front, Johnson and Fordyce again had the answer to take the lead for good. Trailing 11-10 with 5:36 to play, Johnson delivered a clutch free position goal to even the score at 11-11. Fordyce capped the final run for Longwood, ripping home the game winner with 3:02 to play as the Longwood defense would do the rest.
 
"In prior close games, we weren't quite able to pull out the wins however today, we bent a few times when Gardner-Webb surged ahead, but we didn't break," added Elaine Jones. "We kept doggedly fighting from behind and ultimately propelled ourselves back into the lead to win the game, which was awesome to see."
 
With their home schedule complete, the Lancers will hit the road for their final two games, starting at Winthrop on Wednesday, April 21 at 4 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. before ending their season at Campbell on Saturday, April 24 at 1 p.m. in Buies Creek, N.C.
 
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