RICHMOND, Va. – Road wins take grit. Longwood field hockey showed plenty of it on Friday night in a 2-1 overtime win at Richmond to open the season.
 
Freshman Luna Prieri delivered in primetime for her collegiate debut for the Lancers (1-0). Prieri scored both of Longwood's goals in the hard-fought win.
 
Score
               1             2             3             4            OT    FINAL
LWU      0             0              1             0             1       2
RIC         0             0             0             1             0       1
 
44:51—LWU: Luna Prieri (1), assist Hunter-Paige Johnson (1)
57:15—RIC: Alexa Derr (1), assist Kaitlyn Csensits (1)
68:50—LWU: Luna Prieri (2), assist Isis Vrolijks (1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Defense reigned supreme for the first 30 minutes, as the two sides were scoreless and nearly shotless. Richmond (0-1) had two shots in the first half, but that was it.
 
However, things began to open up in the third period before the Lancers finally broke through thanks to Prieri.
 
Longwood broke up the field, and Madison Wiley slipped a pass to Hunter-Paige Johnson in front of the goal. Johnson then found Luna Prieri sprinting to the back post, and Prieri lifted it softly home for a 1-0 lead with nine seconds left in the third period.
 
Richmond pressed forward and found the equalizer in the fourth off a goal from Alexa Derr with less than three minutes left, but the Longwood defense held it there.
 
With regulation not enough and the first overtime winding down, Vrolijks played a crafty ball to Prieri up the middle. Prieri cranked a reverse home with 1:10 to play for the game winner.
 
Santia McLaughlin had four saves in goal for Longwood, and the Lancer back line helped limit Richmond to one goal over the nearly 70-minute match.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Richmond is a really competitive team to face, especially in their home opener," said Longwood Head Coach Miranda Rigg. "I am proud of the way our girls fought to the end. There's a lot of growth that we can still make as a group, and we will continue to add pieces to our game. I'm happy we finished strong in overtime tonight."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood returns home to host St. Francis on Sunday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson. First touch is slated for 1 p.m., and the match will air on ESPN+.
 
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