Lady Flames Field Hockey burns Villanova for 3-0 victory Saturday

 

• Lady Flames Field Hockey beats Villanova 3-0 on Saturday to go 2-3 for the season.
• Strong defense leads to Flames keeping Villanova from scoring.

 

The Liberty University Field Hockey team (2-3) defeated Villanova University (1-6) 3-0 Saturday, Sept. 16 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

 

Liberty scored its first goal at the 7th minute when forward Moniek van Aarle took a shot with assistance from midfielder Abby Julius.

 

“They were lower ranked than us but we needed to be hype and keep more energy than them,” van Aarle said. “We were going for the win and we expected to make goals, and we did that.”

 

Liberty scored another goal at the 30th minute when midfielder Aguada Moroni took a shot with assistance from midfielder Cassidy Bremner and defender Mallory Fortenbaugh.

 

Van Aarle said the game started slow and then they came together and brought out energy to get on the field and play harder.

 

“We are going to start leading harder and make it difficult for defense to track us,” Aarle said.

 

The Flames got their third and final goal at the 46th minute when midfielder Summer Parker shot it in with assistance from defender Jill Bolton.

 

Coach Nikki Parsley said it was a very physical conference game, and Villanova stood their ground, but their forwards could not keep up.

 

Parker said defense could get the ball and even pass midfielders to get it right up to the forwards to make more shots and goals. They want to focus on this in coming games, because the more they press the easier it is to get the ball in possession and rack up goals.

 

“The most challenging part of the game was our pressing,” Parker said. “We did well but there are changes we need to make.”

 

Parker said they want to make sure they are keeping up their motivation to take victories in all games to come, whether easy or tough teams.

 

“We played intensely the whole 70 minutes, we want to come out with confidence and just expect to win,” Parker said.

 

According to Parsley, Liberty did a phenomenal job keeping the shots out of the goal for Villanova and not giving up penalty corners.

 

Liberty’s goalkeeper Allison Schaefer ended the game with one save and no goals scored on her. Defense prevented Villanova from getting anything past seven shots.

 

“I love our defense,” van Aarle said. “We were coming up strong and making tricks through the clock.”

 

Liberty’s defense penetrated Villanova as they tackled and pursued the team’s offense like no other. They managed to clear the path for 25 shots to be taken by Liberty’s forwards and midfielders.

 

“We won 3-0 which was big because it was our first conference game,” van Aarle said.

 

Liberty is determined to get through these conference games in their winning mindset. They played strong Saturday and refused to let Villanova get anything out of them. Fans were impressed and yelling throughout the 70 minutes.

 

Parsley said the game was very physical, especially because it was a conference game.

 

Liberty’s next home game will be held Friday, Sep 29 against Old Dominion University.