FARMVILLE, Va. – The Miami University field hockey team shut out Longwood on the road by a 4-0 margin on Saturday. The RedHawks improve to 9-4 overall and 4-0 in conference play. The Lancers drop to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

"We knew it was going to be a battle," said senior midfielder/forward Paula Portugal. "We knew we would have to make the second and third efforts to get a result. We kept attacking as a unit and needed to find a way to win. When we worked together, we were successful."

"We have a lot of respect for Longwood," said sophomore midfielder Leonor Berlie. "We came into this game expecting to work. We had to be relentless on both sides of the ball for 70 minutes. This was a good win against a quality opponent."

The RedHawks earned the first corner of the game just six minutes into the play but the resulting shot was turned aside by the Longwood goalkeeper.

The Lancers answered with a penalty corner and shot of their own but Maddie Passarella kept the game scoreless. Miami would go on to earn the next three corners and four shots before getting one in the back of the net.

Taylor Curran got Miami on the scoreboard first with her first goal of the season during the 23rd minute of play. Curran scored on a cross pass from Noor Breedijk.

Passarella came up with one more save and the Longwood goalkeeper stopped two more to keep the game at 1-0 going into halftime. The RedHawks also led in shots (9-4), shots on goal (4-2) and penalty corners (5-2) after 35 minutes of play.

Six minutes into the second half, Allie Grace Joyner increased Miami's lead to 2-0 with her fourth goal of the season. Joyner tipped in the initial shot from the stick of Estel Roig.

In the 49th minute, Passarella made her third save of the afternoon to keep the game at 2-0.

Portugal scored her 14 th goal of the season on a penalty stroke shot to give Miami a 3-0 lead.

Longwood responded with two quick shots on goal but Passarella made two more saves to keep the Lancers off the scoreboard.

Less than a minute after the score became 3-0, Portugal scored her second of the game and 15th of the season on a give-and-go with Morgan Sturm.

Portugal led the RedHawks with seven shots, four of which made it on goal. Passarella recorded five saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season. Miami led the game in shots (15-10), shots on goal (7-5) and penalty corners (7-4).

The RedHawks continue their road trip with a 1 p.m. game at No. 18 Virginia on Sunday.