Albany, N.Y. – Kayla Best and Tee Ladouceur each had four goals in leading UAlbany to a 16-11 non-league victory over Longwood on Sunday afternoon at John Fallon Field. The Great Danes, who improved to 7-3 overall, have won five of their last six games.

UAlbany led 9-6 at halftime, but then ran off four unanswered during the opening 10 minutes of the final period. Ladouceur converted a free-position attempt to begin that stretch. Freshman Nikki Branchini, who had a career-high three goals, later drove around a defender in the middle of the zone. Brittany Scott sent a free-position shot into the lower left corner, before Ladouceur drove to the cage and switched to her right hand for a seven-goal cushion with 20:07 to play. The freshman midfielder had a team-leading 29 goals.

Longwood (4-9) held a 2-1 advantage early in the first half after Liz Sellmayer cut to the top of the crease to finish off Christine Comeau's feed. The Great Danes answered by scoring four consecutive times over the next five minutes. Jodi Battaglia drew her team even with a free-position goal and then set up Best on a right-to-left crossing pass with 23:11 left in the stanza. Scott, a senior midfielder, completed a fastbreak, before Ladouceur was credited with a goal after a Lancer defender misplayed a loose ball into her own net.

UAlbany was still on top, 8-4, after Jane Bush scored from the top of the crease, but the Lancers cut that lead in half with a pair of unassisted goals. Sellmayer netted her second of the game when she rotated inside two defenders from left of the cage. Carlie Nethken then found the net on a rebound after UAlbany goalkeeper Katie Neer stopped Sellmayer's initial shot. The Great Danes took a three-goal margin to the break when Best, a sophomore midfielder, scored in transition by spinning to her left shoulder with 2:43 remaining.

"We made good adjustments against their defense and caused some turnovers by riding well," said UAlbany coach Lindsey Hart, whose team is off to its best start since the 1998 campaign will host fifth-ranked Syracuse on Wednesday. "We didn't execute the way we wanted for the full sixty minutes. We got away from a disciplined style at times and didn't finish every play."

Sophomore midfielder Paige Farmer totaled three goals and one assist for the Lancers, who are in their second season at the NCAA Division I level. Goalkeeper Eliza Coughter made 10 saves. UAlbany's Neer and Emily Miller combined stop 13 shots in the cage.

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ALBANY, N.Y. - Longwood University women's lacrosse (4-9) fell to Albany 16-11 on Sunday afternoon in Albany, N.Y. The Lancers were led by sophomore Page Farmer/Richmond (St. Catherine's), who recorded a hat-trick while also adding an assist to tally four points. Longwood returns home for its next match-up, when it hosts Presbyterian College at 4:00 p.m. at the Athletics Complex.

Farmer took control of the game early for the Lancers, scoring in the second minute of action after earning a free position shot. Albany would answer back 30 seconds later with a goal of its own, tying the game at 1-1. Junior Liz Sellmayer/Catonsville, Md. (Mount de Sales Academy) regained the lead for Longwood with 26:05 left in the half, after collecting a pass from sophomore Christine Comeau/Whitby, Ontario, Canada (Sinclair Secondary) and drilling it home.

It would once again take Albany 30 seconds to answer back, as Jodi Battaglia scored her first goal of the game with 25:46 left in the period. Battaglia's goal set off a spark within her team causing the Great Danes to score three more goals within a minute of each other to take a 5-2 advantage.

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2008-03-30