November 5, 2010

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Longwood University field hockey team dropped a 3-0 decision to Stanford University in the first Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) semifinal match on Friday afternoon in Davidson, North Carolina. The East #2 seed Lancers fell to 7-13 while the West #1 seed Cardinal improved to 13-5. Longwood returns to action on Saturday, November 6, when it will play in the third-place match against the loser of the West #2 seed California vs. East #1 seed Davidson match at 11 a.m. in Davidson, N.C..

“We gave Stanford too much space and time in the first half,” said third-year head coach Iain Byers. “We played better hockey in the second half. We are disappointed with the result and the end of our championship hopes, but we will come out strong tomorrow against whoever we play.”

The Cardinal jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute on a goal by Becky Dru off a pass from Xanthe Travlos. Stanford added to the lead in the 16th minute when Katherine Swank deflected a Travlos shot into the cage to put the Cardinal ahead 2-0. The third goal was a diving deflection by Emily Henriksson in the 25th minute. Stanford outshot Longwood 10-3 in the opening period.

Longwood's defense tightened in the second half and limited Stanford to four shots. Longwood had chance to score on a corner, but the opportunity was thwarted when Stanford goalkeeper Alessandra Moss stuck her stick up and deflected a shot by junior Olga Knop | Berlin, Germany (Werner-von-Siemens-Gymnasium) that was headed for the top of the cage.

Stanford outshot Longwood 14-5 and had a 7-5 advantage in penalty corners. Sophomore Kaye Goulding | Tickhill, England (Wakefield Girls) made five saves while allowing three goals in 70 minutes in goal for the Lancers, while Moss made a pair of saves in the shutout. Longwood was led offensively by Knop with three shots, including two shots on goal. Dru led the Cardinal offensively with one goal and one assist on three shots, while Travlos added a pair of assists and four shots.