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The Rotunda
Thursday, July 10, 2025

Field Hockey Plays Strong to Defeat Flames 4-0

On Saturday, Sept. 24, Longwood University defeated the visiting Liberty University Flames in front of the Family Weekend crowd. The final score was 4-0. Junior midfielder Christina Verhulst played an outstanding game for the Lancers, scoring two goals. In her first appearance this season, junior goalkeeper Amy Lewis recorded her first career shutout.

Longwood came out firing against Liberty and sophomore midfielder Stacey de Grandhomme scored the first goal of the match within the first three minutes. The goal came off of a penalty corner. Senior midfielder Sarah Bietsch was credited with the assist. Verhulst extended the lead to 2-0 with her first goal after a pass from senior defenseman Olga Knop. Longwood kept up the attack in the first half that got the Lancers ten penalty corners while the Lady Flame remained at only one penalty. The lead could have been much greater in the first half, but the Lady Flames junior goalkeeper Ann Jefferis recorded four saves. The Lancers took nine shots in the first half while the Lady Flames only had one. 

There was no let down in the second half for the Lancers. Longwood kept dominating possession of the ball and kept the ball on the Lady Flames' half of the field. Verhulst scored her second goal in the 47th minute to extend the lead to 3-0. Junior midfielder Kaity Byrum assisted the goal. Redshirt senior forward Lauren Sullivan put the icing on the cake for the Lancers. The goal was scored on a break away, but was initiated by a pass from freshman forward Jessica Diaz. Longwood outshot Liberty in the second half with the Lancers taking ten shots and the Lady Flames only taking two shots. 

Longwood finally got the offense going against Liberty. The four goals scored was a season high for the Lancers in a single game. The Lancers took 19 shots, tying the season high for Longwood. Although Verhulst scored two goals, Grandhomme took the match high five shots. Longwood kept up the strong defense as well only allowing the Lady Flames to take three shots. They also played smart, under control defense by only giving up one penalty corner to the Lady Flames. Meanwhile, the Lancers had 13 penalty corners.

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