2013 Schedule
FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University sixth-year field hockey head coach
Iain Byers has unveiled his squad's complete schedule for the upcoming 2013 season. The Lancers' campaign will be highlighted by eight home games, which will be played at the Athletics Complex in Farmville, in addition to nine road games and two neutral site contests. Longwood will host Georgetown University for an exhibition match on Sunday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m. before welcoming St. Joseph's University for the season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31 beginning at 1 p.m.
“This marks the 89th year of field hockey at Longwood and we are all very excited to get it started,” said Byers. “We have a great schedule that includes a lot of teams that we should be very competitive with. The team is more tactually aware this year and we have worked on understanding the game as a team this spring, which will allow us to approach each match in a more successful manner.
“We don't play any back-to-back games this year, so we know we will be better prepared for each contest than in previous seasons,” added the Canterbury, England native.”
This year's Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac) schedule features a home-and-home series against each of the other four East Division conference members. The Lancers will open league play at home against Appalachian State University on Saturday, September 14 at 12 p.m. Longwood then travels to Radford (Sept. 17, 7 p.m.) for a tilt under the lights before returning home to host Davidson College (October 6, 2 p.m.) and in-state rival Liberty University (Oct. 9, 4:30 p.m.).
“Our conference games are scheduled throughout the season, allowing us time to prepare for each game,” explained Byers. “We know we can be competitive and we want to regain that NorPac East title. As a team, we have the ability to do it, and as long as we are focused and work hard on all facets of our game, we can definitely be in the running.”
The Lancers play three of their final four conference games on the road at Liberty (Oct. 17, 4:30 p.m.), App State (November 1, 4:30 p.m.), and Davidson (Nov. 3, 1 p.m.). The squad's home finale is slated for Sunday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. against Radford. The 2013 NorPac Conference Tournament will be hosted by Liberty on Nov. 7-9.
“Liberty was last year's regular-season East Division champion and will be strong again, but we have shown that we can beat them when we play well and aim to do that in both the home and away games this season,” commented Byers.
Longwood's non-conference home opponents include St. Joe's, Miami (Ohio) University (Sept. 2, 12 p.m.), James Madison University (Sept. 11, 5 p.m.) and the University of Richmond (Sept. 26, 5:30 p.m.). The Lancers will play its first road games of the year at American University, as the squad takes on Columbia University in a neutral-site contest on Sept. 6 at 1 p.m., before squaring off against its host, the AU Eagles, on Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. Other road matches include Temple University (Sept. 22, 1 p.m.), Duke University (Sept. 29, 1 p.m.), VCU (Oct. 2, 6 p.m.) and the University of North Carolina (Oct. 23, 6 p.m.). Longwood will also play a neutral-site game against Boston College at the University of Virginia on Oct. 13 at 3 p.m.
“Outside of league play, we have a great mix of teams from many different conferences this year, including the ACC, Ivy and A10,” said Byers. “These teams are always highly competitive, but we know we need to beat them in order to show the progress that we are making as a program.
“We added UNC back onto the schedule this year, and as last year's NCAA runner-up, it will probably be our toughest challenge, “ concluded Byers. “Challenges like those, however, are what will make us stronger in conference and help us prepare for the NorPac Championship.”
Byers returns 12 letterwinners from his 2012 squad that finished second in the NorPac regular-season standings before closing out the year with an 8-13 overall record. Six newcomers will join the Lancers in 2013, as well.
