Flames falter

Field hockey falls to Delaware in preseason game

The Liberty Flames Field Hockey team (1-3) lost its match against the Delaware Blue Hens (5-1) 3-2 Sunday, Sept. 10, at Liberty’s East Campus Athletic Fields.

The loss has dropped the Flames to 1-3 heading into their first conference matchup next Saturday against Villanova.

“I think that we played an awesome first half, even the first half of the second half,” freshman midfielder Jill Bolton said.

“We had great intensity the whole game. We came out fighting against the number six team in the nation, which is a great accomplishment for us.”

With under three minutes off the game clock, the Flames junior midfielder Agueda Moroni weaved her way through a strong Blue Hen defense, scoring an unassisted goal.

Moroni’s goal brought her to a team leading four on the season.

With 30 minutes remaining, Delaware midfielder Femke Strien directed a shot at the top right corner of Liberty’s goal.

The Flames sophomore goal keeper Allison Schaefer stretched out, making an incredible diving save.

Less than two minutes later Bolton scored on a direct hit off the corner from sophomore defender Mallory Fortenbaugh.

“One of our overall mottos for the year is start fast and finish strong,” Flames Head Coach Nikki Parsley said.

“I think we certainly started fast. We went up two goals really early.”

The Flames appeared to be dominating the first half before an artistic back handed fade away goal by the Blue Hens Lotte de Koning silenced the Liberty fans.

With under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Flames attempted two penalty corners and three shots within one minute.

The second shot, by Alynn Richardson, deflected off of the post and bounced away from the goal.

Both teams’ defenses stiffened, resulting in a 2-1 Liberty lead at the half.

“We had them 2-1 at half which was awesome,” Bolton said.

In the second half the tables turned.

The Blue Hens had 14 shots in the second half, while the Flames were held to zero shots.

The Blue Hens were also able to outduel the Flames in second half penalty corners 4-0.

The second half began with neither squad being able to maintain possession for long.

Following a 15-minute scoring drought to open the second half, The Blue Hens midfielder de Koning scored her sixth goal of the season.

Three minutes later, de Koning attempted another quick shot, but Schaefer was there for the save.

With 5:13 remaining on the game clock, Delaware’s Greta Nauck got in on the action with her seventh goal of the season, putting the Blue Hens up 3-2.

Determined to hang on to their lead, the number sixth ranked team in the country played dominant defense for the remaining five minutes of play.

Despite the Flames valiant effort to attempt a game tying shot, the Blue Hens kept the ball near the Flames goal as time ran out and the horn sounded.

When asked about the team’s spirits, junior Lindsay Pratt was honest.

“It’s hard. We’re 1-3 but our spirits are still high, looking forward to next weekend. We have our first conference game on Saturday against Villanova, so that will be a big game and I think we’ll be ready to do it… to go for it.”

Despite the difficult loss, it appeared that the coaches’ and players’ focus was aimed directly at Saturday’s home game against Villanova.

“They should have so much confidence going into this, because they’ve seen the best that this country has to offer and if we can play those close games against them, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to walk into conference play and make a statement this weekend,” Parsley said.

“The game of hockey’s not going to change, so whether we’re playing Delaware or Villanova or Kent State, we’re going to come out here and take care of business.”

Couch is a sports reporter