FARMVILLE — The Longwood field hockey team’s 2015 schedule will pit the Lancers against three NCAA Tournament teams, including ACC powerhouses Duke and North Carolina and Mid-American Conference Champion Kent State, Longwood head coach Iain Byers announced Monday.

The Lancers will also host Big East member Georgetown on Oct. 11 and in-state foes Richmond and James Madison on Aug. 22 and Aug. 30 in Farmville as part of an 18-game gauntlet that will mark Longwood’s second season as a field hockey member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

The 2015 schedule includes five teams that reached double-digit wins a year ago, including 12-game winners Richmond and James Madison who come to the Longwood Athletics Complex for back-to-back home games that will mark the start of the season.

The Lancers will also hit the road for matchups against 2014 No. 1 RPI squad North Carolina, which went 19-4-1 and reached the NCAA semifinals one year ago, and ACC member Duke, which went 13-7-9 last season and is just two years removed from reaching the NCAA Championship game.

Also included in Longwood’s non-conference home games are Lafayette, Penn., Georgetown and Appalachian State, while Towson, Davidson, VCU and Saint Louis make up the remainder of the non-conference schedule.

The Richmond and James Madison matchups make up half of the four straight home games that open Longwood’s 2015 field hockey slate.

Five of Longwood’s first six games will take place at the Longwood Athletics Complex, including the MAC opener against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 18.

Longwood’s six-game conference slate features home games against Miami (Ohio), Central Michigan and Ball State and road matchups at defending champion Kent State, Ohio and Missouri State. The Lancers went 6-12 overall and 2-4 in the MAC in 2014, their first season as field hockey members of the conference after departing from the NorPac. Longwood’s two MAC wins came against Ball State and Missouri State, while the Lancers also flirted with an upset over the eventual league champion in a 1-0 loss at Kent State.

The 2015 edition of the Lancers features a veteran squad that returns nine of 11 starters, including All-MAC selections goalkeeper Lauren Bernard, forward Jennifer Burris, midfielder Hollie MacDonald and forward Edel Nyland.

Longwood also welcomes a seven-member freshman class to compensate for the loss of graduated seniors Jessica Diaz and Kelley Fay.