Lady Flames Lacrosse Trounces Kennesaw State On Senior Day

The Lady Flames lacrosse team honored its winningest class in program history Friday with a 17-6 win against Kennesaw State on the team’s senior day. Friday’s win was No. 43 for the class of ’21, highest among all lacrosse classes at Liberty.

Liberty’s win moves the team’s record to 7-6 overall and sends Kennesaw State down to 5-7 on the season. 

Though the game finished relatively one-sided, it did not start out as such. Kennesaw State opened up the scoring a minute into the game, but Liberty’s Mia Toscano tied the game back at 1-1 five minutes into the contest. KSU responded a couple seconds later with a goal from Caroline Farley to make it 2-1, which would be Kennesaw’s final lead of the game. 

Six minutes of quiet followed as neither team could find a way through, but Liberty’s Brooke Bryan took initiative, scoring twice in nearly a minute to give the Lady Flames a 3-2 lead. Two goals courtesy of Andrea Colavito and Jordan Sheive put the Lady Flames on top 5-3 at the end of the low-scoring half. 

“I’m really proud of the way we pull through in games,” Head Coach Kelly Nangle said. “I’m proud of how they dug in and found a way, and to do that on senior day makes it that much more special.”

The second half was all Flames as Liberty outshot KSU 22-7 and saw goals from 10 different Lady Flames. Leah Ruby opened the scoring in the second half and Mia Toscano was right behind for her second goal of the game, making the score 7-3.

Kennesaw State spent the rest of the half trying to stay above water as Liberty continued to pile on the pressure in a half that included a 9-0 run from the Flames in the span of 19 minutes, including goals from seniors Carly White and Grace Fletcher.

“For the seniors to step up and be a big part of a game like today is just awesome,” Nangle said. “I thought I would be able to get through it without shedding a tear, but it is hard. These girls have built this program and bought into everything we have done from the very beginning.”

Senior defender Sarah Steenson was also responsible for limiting KSU to six goals, matching her season high with four caused turnovers and one ground ball after entering the game ranked 14th in the nation in caused turnovers. 

“Last year was a heavy way to end our original senior year,” Steenson said. “When we decided to come back, the whole team rallied around and supported us, and nothing was better than coming out here and getting a running clock on senior (day).”

Brooke Bryan hit the 30-goal mark on the season with three goals in the game, bringing her season total to 32. 

Makenzie Lehman had a career-best eight draw controls while also notching two goals. 

“I found a new liking for the circle,” Lehman said. “It’s good to use my height …  and we found the open looks and finished them.”

Liberty lacrosse next played in a close 15-13 win over High Point Sunday, April 18. The Lady Flames will face off against Stetson in an ASUN matchup Friday, April 23. 

Zac Zehnder is a Sports Reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @zaczehnder.