After rolling through opponents and going 5-1 over its last six games, the Liberty field hockey team was brought back to reality in rainy conditions with a hard loss to the UNC Tar Heels, falling short 6-3.
Liberty, ranked 14th in the nation, hosted the top dogs of NCAA field hockey in the undefeated Tar Heels, who handed Liberty just its second loss at home this season.
The loss pushes the Flames to 7-4 on the year. While it may be a good record, the team is believed to be better than its record suggests.
This Flames team is one of the best in the nation, and these losses just confirm that statement instead of the opposite. Being a team that only loses to the best and can also beat the best (defeated No. 8 UConn 4-0) proves that this Liberty team has a shot at recreating the magic from last season.
Liberty, who has come to rely on its penalty corners as a hefty piece of its offense, struggled from that part of the field on Sunday.
The Lady Flames only were awarded two of them, but to their credit, both of them found their way to the back of the net. Seniors Lizzie Hamlett and Bethany Dykema made those shots. Freshman Pima Iturraspe rounded off the Flames box score, scoring the only other goal for Liberty.
Tar Heels senior forward Erin Matson dominated offensively, netting four goals on the day. Matson’s first of four scores came on a penalty stroke at the 4:46 mark, and Lisa Slinkert would add on just minutes later with a right-side goal to give the Heels a 2-0 advantage.
While Hamlet answered with a short corner tip, Matson would send momentum surging UNC’s way with a goal just before the half. From then on, the Tar Heels would break the game open with three goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half to get ahead 6-1. The Flames would put up two more scores in the fourth quarter, but it wouldn’t be enough to catch the Heels.
The issue for the Flames, ultimately, was the inability to get shots off. Against a high-powered offense like UNC, the Flames would’ve had to match their efficiency and amount of offense, but the Flames were only able to match one of those two. The Tar Heels outshot the Flames 16-6, and in shots on goal, they outpaced them by a total of 11-3.
Liberty will look to bounce back Oct. 7 against inter-conference opponent Villanova. The Flames have had the Wildcats’ number in the past, holding an 8-0 all-time record, with seven of those wins coming since the Flame’s entry into the Big East in 2016. Villanova is 7-3 this season and just one spot behind Liberty in the Big East.
Palsgrove is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter