July 6, 2010

FARMVILLE, Va. - Longwood University field hockey head coach Iain Byers has announced his 2010 schedule, featuring eight home matches at the Athletics Complex in Farmville, including a home date against defending NCAA champion North Carolina. Longwood finished 2009 with a 10-11 record, including 4-2 in Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) competition and a fourth-place finish in the NorPac Tournament. The Lancers went 5-3 in home contests last season, including a perfect 3-0 in NorPac matches. Longwood opens its season at home on Friday, August 27, when it hosts Ball State at the Athletics Complex in Farmville at 3 p.m..

“We are excited to have some great teams coming to play at Longwood this year, in particular Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schools like Duke and national champion North Carolina,” said Byers. “These matches are always a good test for us and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

Highlighting the schedule are four matches against teams from the ACC, including Duke (September 4, 1 p.m.) and North Carolina (Sept. 28, 5 p.m.) at the Athletics Complex and trips to Wake Forest (Sept. 7, 7 p.m.) and Virginia (November 6, 6 p.m.).

“We have brought the schedule back to Virginia this year with the addition of Richmond and James Madison, who we haven't played for a few years.“

The Lancers host NorPac rival Radford (Sept. 25, 1 p.m.) and travel to James Madison (Sept. 22, 7 p.m.), Virginia, Richmond (October 10, 1 p.m.), VCU (Oct. 13, 6 p.m.) and Radford (Oct. 17, 2 p.m.).

“This year's NorPac schedule will be a competitive again but we are confident that we can compete and place higher than last year.”

Longwood has six NorPac matches on the schedule, two against Radford and road matches at Davidson (Oct. 2, 1 p.m.) and Appalachian State (Oct. 3, 2 p.m.) before hosting Davidson (Oct. 23, 12 p.m.) and Appalachian State (Oct. 30, 12 p.m.) to end the regular season. The NorPac Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 4-6 in Davidson, North Carolina.

Other home contests for the Lancers include Siena (Aug. 31, 3 p.m.) and LaSalle (Sept. 18, 12 p.m.). Longwood also plays at Lock Haven (Sept. 11, 12 p.m.) and Lafayette (Sept. 12, 11 a.m.).

The Lancers return six starters among 15 letterwinners and have added six incoming freshmen for 2010.