Daniella Rhodes received the right-side feed from Maddie Hosler and forced the ball into the goal in the 48th minute to seal the deal, spurring the Lady Flames to their first field hockey victory over a ranked opponent in the 2019 season.
The goal was Liberty’s second in a 2-0 victory over Providence Friday, Nov. 1. The Lady Flames outshot the Friars 18-12, with nine shots on goal compared to Providence’s four shots.
Lady Flames Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker said the team’s forwards were playing exactly the way they needed to.
“You can’t control whether or not it goes in, but you can control whether or not you get into the circle and put shots on cage, or at least get something off at the very least,” Parsley-Blocker said.
The game was Liberty’s seventh shutout of the season as well. The Lady Flames have only allowed opponents to score in three of their wins, and held all but one of their opponents to three points or less.
The team’s defensive effort defined Friday’s victory as well, with the defense shutting out seven penalty corners and keeping each of the Friars four shots on goal out of the cage.
“I don’t think it was our best performance, but any day is a good day when you can get a shutout,” Parsley-Blocker said. “The effort was there for the back line, which was exciting.”
The victory clinched the Lady Flames spot as the No. 3 seed in the Big East championship, which sophomore forward Charlotte Vaanhold said was a relief.
RUNNER-UP — The Lady Flames have gone to the Big East championship game for the past three years and lost each year to UConn.
“We are really, really happy because if we were fourth we would play against (No. 1 seed) UConn, and that’s not really convenient,” Vaanhold said. “So we were happy that we won, and now we’re playing against (No. 2 seed) Old Dominion
and we are ready.”
The Lady Flames only two conference losses this season were to UConn (6-3) and Old Dominion (3-2), and their victory over Providence closed their conference play with a 5-2 record. Their upcoming trip to the Big East championship is their fourth straight appearance in the conference. The Lady Flames have been runners-up for the past three years, losing to UConn in the final game each season.
The victory over Providence wasn’t Liberty’s only game of the weekend. The Lady Flames also hosted Duke Sunday, Nov. 3, for senior day and fell 3-2 in overtime to the Blue Devils.
The Lady Flames will take on Old Dominion in the Big East semifinals Friday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. If the Lady Flames defeat Old Dominion, they will advance to the Big East final Sunday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m.