FARMVILLE, Va. – Bailey Stratton was awesome on offense, and the Longwood defense did the rest to give the team its first win of the 2026 season.
 
Stratton poured in a career-high five goals, and the Lancer (1-5) back line surrendered a season-low seven goals to Old Dominion in a 12-7 win on Tuesday night.
 
SCORING:
               1             2             3             4             FINAL
ODU      3             1             1             2             7
LWU      5             4             1             2             12
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Old Dominion (5-5) struck first on a goal from Natalie Calandra-Ryan, the team's leading scorer, but Longwood's defense took her out of the game completely after that. She didn't score again for the remaining 59 minutes of the contest.
 
Meanwhile, the Lancers ripped off five straight goals to roar into the lead.
 
Sarah Forman knotted the game at one apiece with her first collegiate goal to jumpstart a 5-0 run. She added her second after goals from Madison Rogers and Jordan Fitzgerald, and Bailey Stratton capped the rally with her first of the game for a 5-1 lead with 7:23 to go in the first.
 
While ODU trimmed the lead to 5-3 to end the frame, Stratton had the answer in the second. Literally.
 
The sophomore scored four goals in the second quarter, and the defense only allowed ODU to score once, as the Lancers extended the lead to 9-4 at the half.
 
After halftime, the two defenses clamped down and surrendered three goals each the rest of the way.
 
Alexandra Hirst had a big one for Longwood in the third to put the team up five, and Kendra DeFilippo scored one early in the fourth to extend the Lancer lead to six.
 
The back line, plus goalkeeper Isabella McCullough, made life difficult for ODU the rest of the way to preserve the win.
 
McCullough (1-5) made eight saves, including timely ones after halftime to stymie multiple rallies by Old Dominion, to earn the win.
 
Brynn Bowen (5-5) took the loss for ODU in goal. She made 11 saves.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"The defense won the game," said Longwood Head Coach Dwayne Hicks. "We have a rule of 10. The offense has to score more than 10 goals, and the defense has to keep their offense under today, and today they won the rule of 10. I'm very happy for them. The defense had a heck of a game."
 
"The key with Bailey was that she has a nose for the goal," Hicks added about his sophomore. "And once she started feeling it, her confidence built, and then it was just a matter of nose to the grindstone. She's a hard-working player. She saw the goal, and today was her day."
 
"I think that's part of it, the momentum," Hicks said about how a young team has grown from opening day. "We've been at the bottom for a while, so we knew what it takes and been working on it. And I said, it's just a matter of time before your time comes, but when it does, feel it. And that's when you've got to use the momentum, and it will carry you to the win, and today's the day."
 
"It's huge. Old Dominion has a good record, and they've played a lot of good teams, and they were a really experienced team," Hicks added about the importance of getting the win going into conference play. "Beating them gives us the confidence that we need going into the Big South. I'm ready."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 

• Madison Rogers scored two goals for her fourth multi-goal game of the season.
• Bailey Stratton doubled her season goals total after coming into the game with five goals.
• Sarah Forman had her first multi-goal game in her collegiate career.
• Longwood's last win over Old Dominion was in the 2020 season.

 
UP NEXT:
 
The Lancers dive into Big South play next week. The team heads to Wofford on Wednesday, March 25. Opening draw is set for noon.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower