The Longwood University women's field hockey team lost a close overtime match against James Madison University last Thursday, Oct. 13. The final score was 1-0 in the contest that was played at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Junior goalkeeper Kaye Goulding was credited with eight saves for Longwood during the 74 minute match.
It took a while for both the Lancers and Dukes to heat up offensively. It took until the 22nd minute for the first shot to be attempted by either team. JMU had two penalty corner opportunities, but was unable to convert on either of them. Sophomore Stacey de Grandhomme sent a scorching shot towards the Dukes' goal after a breakaway, but the attempt was saved by the goalkeeper. Senior Olga Knop made a brilliant defensive save in the 33rd minute to keep the score knotted at 0-0 at the half.
Longwood held strong defensively during the second half. The Lancers rejected five Dukes penalty corners. The Lancers only had one blocked penalty corner in the half, which was attempted by de Grandhomme. In the overtime period, JMU's Dana Allaband attempted a shot that was blocked by Goulding. The Dukes' Ysaline Nobels recovered the rebound and shot the ball under a Longwood defender, giving the Dukes the win.
JMU outshot Longwood 15-4 during the match (10-2 shots on goal). The Dukes also carried a hefty 9-1 margin in penalty corners. The Lancers were led by de Grandhomme with two shots. JMU's Taylor Bailey had five shots to lead her team. Goalkeeper Margo Savage had two saves for the Dukes.
The field hockey team took on in-state opponent Radford University on Sunday, Oct. 16. The Lancers came out on top with a 3-1 victory sending the team above the .500 mark on the season (9-8). The victory also improved the Lancers to 3-1 in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac). The goals for the Lancers were scored by freshman forward Jessica Diaz, sophomore midfielder Stacey de Grandhomme and senior Olga Knop. The only goal assist came from senior midfielder Sarah Bietsch. Senior forward Lynsey Daughtry scored the only goal for Radford and senior forward Melissa Register was credited with the assist.
It was Senior Night for the Lady Highlanders, and the seven seniors were determined to not let the Lancers ruin their night. Longwood came out strong on defense, which has been the theme for field hockey all season. Radford had six penalty corners in the first period. Three out of those six penalty corners came early in the game, but Longwood held strong. At 19:38, Diaz got a hold of a ball and took it to the circle before scoring the first goal of the match. It took almost the entire first period for the Lady Highlanders to get on the scoreboard. Goalkeeper Kaye Goulding had three saves in the first period, but let a Radford goal squeak by her at 32:54. The goal came after a penalty corner where the ball traveled from the right side of the field before Daughtry pushed it through. The match was tied 1-1 going into half with Radford being the aggressor with six shots on goal and Longwood only having three.
Longwood came out in the second period with a new wind and took the energy out of Radford. Longwood became the aggressor and took the lead in the opening three minutes of the second period. Grandhomme scored her team-high eleventh goal of the season off of a penalty stroke at 37:31. With a 2-1 lead, Longwood stayed on the attack and got ten shots on goal in the second period. Longwood outshot Radford 13-11 for the match.
After having zero penalty corners in the first period, Longwood got eight in the second period. The nail in the coffin was at 65:28 when Knop's goal gave the Lancers a 3-1 lead. Senior Rachel Akers passed the ball to Bietsch who got a hold of it and passed it to Knop.
Longwood takes the field again at home on Saturday, Oct. 22 to try to avenge their only conference loss against Davidson College. Their last meeting was on Oct. 1, where Davidson won 2-1 at Davidson.
