Longwood University’s field hockey team broke out of a slump in a big way Sunday afternoon, erupting for the team’s best performance in nearly a month to hand undefeated Mid-American Conference foe Ohio University its first conference loss of the season, 3-1, at the Longwood Athletics Complex.

A simplified approach, as described by Lancers Head Coach Iain Byers, yielded a go-ahead goal from Leonie Verstraete in the 22nd minute that sparked the Lancers (7-8, 1-3 MAC) to an upset win that snapped a five-game losing streak and pushed them to within a half game of their first berth in the MAC Championship Tournament.

Verstraete’s first-half score was the catalyst to a dominant effort from the Lancers, who dispatched a red-hot Ohio (6-8, 3-1 MAC) team that entered the matchup winners of four of their past five games and in second place in the MAC standings with an unblemished conference record. The signature win ended a lengthy stretch of hard-luck losses for the Lancers, who had suffered three one-goal losses within their past five games after opening the season with a Division I-era best 6-3 record.

“There’s no better feeling. We needed this win,” said Verstraete, whose go-ahead goal was her 12th of the season, putting her behind only teammate Edel Nyland’s 14 goals for the MAC lead.

“We kind of lost our confidence during the losing streak, and (Coach Byers) has put in a lot of effort in trying to bring that back to us,” she said.

Longwood’s confidence took the form of a 17-8 shooting margin, bolstered by six shots from Nyland who had taken just seven combined in her previous three games. The junior from Tipperary, Ireland, found the back of the net on one of those just 36 seconds into the second half, pushing her back among the NCAA’s top 10 leading scorers and giving the Lancers just enough cushion to outlast the Bobcats.

Verstraete, Nyland and senior captain Ellen Ross all put their opportunities away to give the Lancers their most goals since a 4-3 upset over Big East powerhouse Liberty University on Sept. 20.

Longwood visits Central Michigan University on Saturday at 11 a.m.