Liberty Field Hockey team wins first home game 5-2 against Appalachian State University

The Liberty Flames field hockey team seem primed for regular season action after concluding their preseason with a dominant 5-2 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday.

Junior midfielder Jill Bolton ignited the Flames attack with two goals and an assist, and forwards Victoria O’Keefe, Daniella Rhodes and Olivia Klopp each notched a goal for a Flames offense that generated 30 shots on goal as well as six penalty corners. The pace that the Flames maintained kept the Mountaineers off-balance and on the defense for the majority of the game.

Bolton praised the midfielders for their pivotal role in orchestrating the attack.

“We had a lot of lateral ball movement around the back, and our midfielders were doing a really good job of distributing the ball to us forwards,” Bolton said. “That played a big role in getting shots on cage.”

On defense, the Flames suffocated the Mountaineers inconsistent offense, allowing just four shots through three periods. Junior defender Ashley Dykema anchored the back section with a strong outing, while senior goalie Allison Schaeffer turned in a stellar effort and made five saves in 55 minutes. 

Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker credited the defense for its coordination.

“All the backs (Annika Roberts, Ashlyn Roberts and Mallory Fortenbaugh), they really communicated,” Parsley-Blocker said. “We don’t want to get in bad situations further into the circle … I thought as a unit they played really well together.” 

Dykema and Schaeffer joined Bolton as members of the All-Big East preseason team, and Dykema earned preseason Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

Despite a weak first three quarters, the Mountaineers sprang to life in the fourth quarter and the two overtime periods that followed. Junior forward Veerle Van Heertum scored from the corner into the right side of the cage 12:30 into the period, and junior midfielder Meghan Smart scored just three minutes later. Most of the Mountaineers scoring came after both teams put their reserves in, and four of their five penalty corners came in the fourth quarter or later.

Parsley-Blocker said that this late collapse was due to mental errors, which is something she wants the team to improve on heading into the regular season.

“I wasn’t too pleased with our tactical decisions out of the back in the fourth quarter,” Parsley-Blocker said. “What it comes down to is decision making … we have to keep our head under pressure when it counts, and that’s when they capitalized on our mistakes when we were too flippant with the ball.”

Liberty is ranked second in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll, and this season, the Lady Flames will look to build off of last year’s successes and rebound from its heartbreaking conclusion. The Flames concluded last season with a 13-6 overall record and eventually made it to the Big East championship game, ultimately losing 5-3 to the University of Connecticut.  

However, Dykema believes that this could be the year when Liberty overcomes that obstacle.

“My expectation is to win a Big East championship,” Dykema said. “Coming off of winning three preseason scrimmages and beating two ACC teams, it’s going to be an awesome year for this team.”

With the preseason wrapped up, the Flames now look to start their run towards that Big East Championship when they host the James Madison University Dukes at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sep. 1.