Flames Beat William and Mary and Prepare to Face Connecticut

The Lady Flames’ field hockey team improved to 5-2 as they defended their home turf by defeating William and Mary 2-0 Sept. 19. 

In a game filled with impressive defensive stands by both teams, an early goal scored by senior defender/midfielder Maddie Hosler and a goal in the third period by senior forward Jill Bolton put the Lady Flames over William and Mary. The Flames had possession most of the game, resulting in them having six penalty corners compared to William and Mary’s two. Liberty Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker was pleased with her team’s overall performance.

“In terms of what our game points were, they went out and executed them,” Parsley-Blocker said. “Cleaning up a few things in the attacking circle and where we’re putting our shots is going to be critical as we head into UConn this weekend.”

After several shots-on goal by Liberty in the first few minutes of the game, Hosler slapped in the first goal from an assist by Bolton. In the second period, no goals were scored as William and Mary survived two penalty corners and Liberty survived one.

In the third quarter, senior Ashley Dykema-Pereira dribbled along the William and Mary’s baseline and dished the ball to Bolton, who would then score the final goal of the game.

Bolton, who had four shots on goal, expressed her happiness at winning the game. 

“It was a good game,” Bolton said. “It was fun. It was a back-and-forth game, and I’m just glad that we got another goal to secure the win.”

The Lady Flames’ previous game was against the Georgetown Hoyas in Washington D.C. Sept. 17. Following the 5-1 victory, the Lady Flames were relieved to come back to Lynchburg. The Flames have traveled all across the country this season. Now, they will play four out of the next five games at home, something which relieved Hosler after Sunday’s game.  

“It’s a home game, so it’s always fun being on your own turf,” Hosler said. “It has been a lot of traveling this season so far, so I think we were all excited to come out. We had good energy in the warm-up, and I think we were feeling good today.”

At the end of the match, Liberty had the most shot attempts with 23 compared to William and Mary’s nine. William and Mary finished the game with 12 saves at the net, and the Lady Flames finished with four.

Liberty aims to improve their 1-1 conference record (5-2 overall) against the UConn Huskies Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. 

Satterthwaite is a sports reporter.