The LU women’s lacrosse team lost their season opener 14-8 to Navy on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Athletics Complex in Farmville.
The first half was filled with action on both sides and there was no shortage of goal scoring to be had, with 16 goals in total. Longwood (0-1) opened the scoring against the Midshipmen 1:08 in with Sarah Butler’s first tally of the day.
Navy tied it before Kacey Norwood and Liz Trainer added two more for the Lancers; Norwood’s goal was her first after an injury early last season. It was a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the half, with Navy never quite getting the lead but tying to on several occasions. A two goal run in the final 1:04 of the half knotted things up at halftime, 8-8.
Head Coach Elaine Jones called it the best first half that she’s seen her Lancers play in now her second year as coach, but the second half was a much different tale. Longwood was unable to get much going offensively in the second half, only getting one shot on Navy goalie Annie Foky. The Midshipmen used a methodical attack throughout the game’s final 30 minutes to pull away and secure the 14-8 win. They took their first lead 1:03 into the half thanks to an unassisted Casey Browne goal, and there was no turning back.
Butler scored a team-high three goals in the losing effort, followed by one each from Norwood, Trainer, Sara Jacobson, Katie McHugh and Rachel DiGiulian.
Norwood also picked up an assist, as did Lauren Prasnicki. Christian Acker had nine saves. Navy outshot the Lancers 28-12 and won the ground ball battle 24-16.
“We beat ourselves a bit with some mental errors in the second half, which put us in a hole trying to come back,” Jones said. “That being said, the team fought hard the entire game and played with a ton of heart. Brittany Haun and Sarah Butler had stellar games and hustled all over the field. Overall, we learned what we need to fix and I’m excited to move forward to begin preparing for the next game.”
Longwood has a road game at Elon Friday at 4 p.m. before returning to Farmville to host Delaware State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
