FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood's defense was a wall of white jerseys throughout the afternoon in the team's conference opener against Radford on Wednesday.
 
The Lancers (4-5, 1-0 Big South) held Radford to only 13 shots, the lowest Longwood has allowed this season. The back line shut down Radford and controlled the pace of play as Radford had 24 turnovers.
 
Meanwhile, Haley Moomau and Lauren Cerretani led the offensive attack. Moomau tallied a hat trick in goals and assists, and Cerretani added three goals of her own, but they weren't alone as eight players scored. The Lancers outshot Radford 31-13.
 
"Radford is a strong, aggressive team and an in-state rival, so it was a very physical battle today," said Longwood head coach Elaine Jones, now in her 10^th year at the helm. "The physicality made it a bit of an ugly win, but I'm glad we earned it. I'm proud of our players for battling the whole game and being resilient. We gave up a lead and went down a few goals, but that didn't stop us from reorganizing and refocusing so we could regain the lead and keep it for the rest of the game."
 
Keelyn Haarhoff (1-0) earned the win in goal for the Lancers and made a pair of saves. Normally a field player, Haarhoff started in place of the injured Amelia Carlile.
 
"Shoutout to Keelyn Haarhoff for standing strong in goal," Jones added. "She accepted the challenge of playing goalie and filled in admirably today!"
 
For Radford (1-7, 0-1 Big South), Morgan Gleason had a trio of goals, but the Highlanders never could get on track thanks to a ton of pressure from the Longwood defense that was credited with 18 caused turnovers.
 
While the two sides traded goals early in the game, the Lancers settled in and controlled long stretches thanks to a 15-8 advantage on draw controls.
 
With the score deadlocked at two in the first quarter, Ellie Rumbaugh capitalized on a free position shot with 52 seconds left in the period to give Longwood a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute into the second quarter, Claire Libby added her second goal of the match to give Longwood a 4-2 lead.
 
Radford responded though and reeled off three straight goals to go up 5-4.
 
Moomau and Cerretani answered right back though, as the duo combined for three goals to give Longwood a 7-5 lead.
 
Both sides locked down on defense, with neither side scoring for nine minutes. Harper Melton broke the streak after scooping up a rebound behind the goal and sneaking one in with 0.8 seconds left in the first half for an 8-5 lead at the break.
 
After halftime, Longwood's defense tightened up even more. They surrendered a total of five shots in the final 30 minutes and forces eight turnovers in the third quarter alone.
 
Meanwhile, the Lancer offense ground out a few more goals, with Cerretani picking up her third of the game in the third period to extend the lead to 10-5 off a feed from Miranda Helfenbein.
 
Radford trimmed the lead to three a handful of times in the fourth, but each time the Lancer offense had the answer.
 
Olivia Hunter (1-7) took the loss for Radford after making 12 saves.
 
"Every conference game will challenge us in different ways, and we will definitely learn from this and use those lessons to our advantage as we move forward in conference play," Jones said.
 
The Lancers are back in action this weekend with a trip to Presbyterian on Saturday. The match starts at 1 p.m. in Clinton, South Carolina.
 
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