Longwood Picks Up Victory Over UC Davis
Thursday’s Scoreboard
Longwood 3, UC Davis 0
Pacific 7, Central Michigan 0
Stanford 8, Ohio 1
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Longwood 3, UC Davis 0
Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. – A pair of goals from Leonie Verstraete and the first shutout performance of the season from goalkeeper Katie Wyman handed Longwood field hockey a 3-0 win over UC Davis Thursday afternoon at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.
The win hands Longwood (2-1) its seventh consecutive victory on its home turf dating back to the 2017 season while UC Davis (2-3) suffered its third consecutive loss.
"UC Davis made it tough for us because we couldn't get a flow and a rhythm going," said Longwood head coach Iain Byers. "I don't think we were particularly impressive in our performance so to speak, but we were able to fight through and that's something we can build on."
The reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Week, Wyman picked up her eighth career shutout with a three-save performance to follow the 13 saves she posted in Sunday's loss to then-No. 7 Virginia.
"I'm glad we were able to get the win and the shutout today," Wyman said. "It's always a great feeling when you can hold the opponent without a goal and I thought our team defense was solid throughout the day."
Wyman's first shutout of the campaign was aided by Longwood's backline of Rio Weber, Kolbey Donahue and Clara Meschini, who allowed just five UC Davis shots in the game. It improves upon a defensive effort that has seen Longwood top the MAC with a 1.00 goals against average.
"The clean sheet today was an entire team performance," Byers said. "Our backline is a tough unit right now and, along with the midfield, they're really make it difficult for our opponents."
Offensively, Verstraete tallied a pair of goals to increase her goal total to three goals on the season while Sophia DeFeo scored her first of the season. Kolbey Donahue added a pair of assists and Charlotte Wilm also added an assist.
"The midfield does a great job of getting the ball forward," Verstraete said. "I was the last one to touch it but my goals today were all about teamwork. Whenever we play as a team, we're a difficult group to beat."
DeFeo's second career goal came less than nine minutes into the game and helped the Longwood attack gain momentum en route to a 16-5 shot advantage.
With her pair of goals, Verstraete moves just outside the Longwood's all-time top 10 in career goals with 31, one shy of the 32 former teammate Jennifer Burris scored from 2012-15. Her sixth career two-goal performance comes on the heels of back-to-back 14 goal seasons en route to All-MAC performances.
Chelsea Bigelow took the loss for UC Davis (2-3) despite making 11 saves on 16 Longwood shots.
Longwood returns to their home turf Sunday, Sept. 9 against LaSalle. First touch is set for 2 p.m.
Pacific 7, Central Michigan 0
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Pacific scored five second-half goals on Thursday in spoiling the Central Michigan field hockey team's home opener, 7-0, at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
The Chippewas (1-4) play host to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday at 5 p.m. The Red Flash is 1-3. Pacific improved to 3-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Central Michigan trailed 2-0 at halftime. The Tigers scored three goals in the first 10-plus minutes of the second half.
"Pacific, you've got to give it to them, they're a really good team," said first-year CMU coach Catherine Ostoich, whose team played on Sunday and on Monday in Philadelphia against La Salle. "We had a tough week coming off of two games Sunday, Monday.
"The girls fought hard in the beginning, we stuck to the game plan and then we kind of just self-destructed in the second half. It's a learning process. We take things from this game that we can apply to our game tomorrow."
IN GOAL
CMU goalkeeper Lilly Amadio faced 21 shots and made six saves.
"Lilly had a great game," Ostoich said. "She made some phenomenal saves and I think there are bits and pieces of people playing really well, playing good defense, but we have to do it as a team. I think that's the big thing that we're carrying into tomorrow. We've got to do everything as a team."
MOVING ON
"They know they are better than what they showed out here today," Ostoich said of her team. "I think that's the ultimate thing that we have instilled in them, a belief, a confidence that they know they are better.
"I think that's why it hurts more because you can come away and say, 'We played our best.' But we know we are better than this, so we've got to keep pushing and we've got to keep reminding each other and we've got to do the little things a little bit better."
Stanford 8, Ohio 1
Box Score coming soon...
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Bobcats fall to the Stanford Cardinal 8-1.
The Bobcats gave up three goals in the first half and five in the second in today's tough loss.
Ohio had one goal by Brittany Keen assisted by Emma Eggleston. Stanford high scorer was Corinne Zanolli (5).
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Sophia Boothby (Spotsylvania, Va.) made seven saves for the Bobcats while senior Alex Pennington (Easton, Pa.) had four.
Ohio will come back home next Saturday (Sept. 15; 12 p.m. EST) to host the Mountaineers of Appalachian State.
