The Longwood Lancers women's lacrosse team opened their season this past Saturday in Annapolis, Md., losing to Navy 20-4. The Lancers trailed Navy 15-16 in shots after the first half, but were held to only three shots the entire second half. Oppositely, Navy had 23 shots on goal in the second half, scoring 20 times throughout the game in total.
Navy struck first at the 29:32 mark. Down 1-0, the Lancers responded at 26:23 off a goal from senior Jessica Rudloff. The Midshipmen would then go on a four-goal streak, extending their lead over the Lancers until 13:22 remained in the half. Then, freshman Kacey Norwood scored a goal off of a Jamie Bretlinger assist, but afterwards Navy scored seven more goals to finish the first half at 8-3. Bretlinger would record her own goal at the 2:45 mark, but not before Navy whipped up another seven runs to end the half at 8-3.
No comeback was to be had in the second half of the game. Sophomore Mary Bondeness would score the fourth goal for LU with only 24 seconds remaining, but not before Navy scored twelve straight goals, giving them the 20-4 victory. "We knew opening the season against Navy was going to be a tough test," said head coach Wendy Stone. "They are a very talented and experienced team." Junior transfer goalie Mollie Zimmerman made 10 saves and collected a team high four groundballs, while Christian Acker played the remaining eight minutes and saved one. Norwood would collect a team high three draw controls and took a team high five shots, with four of those shots going on goal. LU recently signed seven new players for the 2012-2013 season, including Katie Burnet (Apex, N.C.), Nicole Cochran (Midlothian), Caroline Mann (Herndon), Katie McHugh (Burke), Caitlyn Miller (Vero Beach, FL), Lisa Schell (Spencerville, Md.) and Shelby Wilde (Buffalo, N.Y.). All recruits are from Virginia, unless listed otherwise.
Some of Longwood's returning talent includes the following (from longwoodlancers. com): Attack: Returning to the front line of the Lancers are senior Jessica Rudloff, junior Jamie Bretlinger and sophomores Mary Bondeness and Lauren Pransnicki. Rudloff and Bretlinger each scored 28 goals last season, followed by Bondeness with 18 and Pransnicki with 11.
Midfield: Seniors Hannah Riggs and Sam Stifler head the Lancer's midfield, both captains alongside Rudloff. Riggs has collected the most ground balls of any returning player and was named to the NLC Preseason Conference Team last season with Bretlinger. Stifler was 35 of 49 in shots on goal in the 2011 season, also earning a place on the NLC Academic All-Team League.
Defense: Leading the Lancer's defense, sophomore Kathleen Battle will accompany sophomore Emily Whitman, who started all 18 games last season. Battle collected 29 ground balls last season, seeing action in 17 games. The Lancers continue their 2012 campaign against Louisville on Saturday, Feb. 24 in Farmville, Va. The game will be held at the Athletic Complex.
