Lady Flames Field Hockey Defeats Longwood Lancers 2-1

With fall foliage covering Liberty Mountain, behind the Liberty Field Hockey Field, the No. 19 Flames faced off against the Longwood Lancers, defeating them 2-1. 

Historically, the Flames have dominated the Lancers, winning 10 of the 14 matchups between the two teams. Liberty University’s victory on Senior Day was the team’s fourth consecutive win.

Before the game, Liberty’s seven seniors were honored for their careers in the program. One of those seniors, graduate midfielder Reagan Underwood, drew a standing ovation by singing the national anthem before the match.   

“Seeing the girls and all the love they gave us today, the appreciation they showed to us today was really beautiful,” senior midfielder Martu Cian said. 

Liberty was all over Longwood from the beginning, putting the pressure cooker on its highest setting with early shots and possession deep in Longwood territory. However, Longwood goalie Sophie Mooldijk had all the answers early on with two huge saves in the first. 

Mooldijk’s play, paired with Liberty’s struggle to connect on passes, created a deadlock in the game that lasted until the end of the first quarter. Despite Liberty’s domination, the Flames had nothing to show for it after one quarter. 

Mooldijk started the second quarter with a massive sequence of saves from multiple Flames, including Cian.

The majority of the quarter had the players going back and forth with no real offensive chances being made, as Longwood began to push back against the Flames. 

Toward the end of the second quarter, the Flames were able to start generating offense again with a few key opportunities off corners. Sustaining the pressure, the Flames found a few shots and chances in front of the goal.   

Liberty found the back of the cage off its fourth corner of the game, in which superstar senior forward Tuti Dell Anna deflected the ball in with 43 seconds left in the first half. 

Finally breaking past Mooldijk after seven shots on goal, the Flames carried their 1-0 lead into halftime. 

Despite gaining momentum in the first half, the Flames could not retain it in the third quarter. The Lancers came out and created offensive chances but to no avail, as Liberty’s defense stood strong in the back. The Flames started to get back to their offensive selves as the quarter continued. But with Mooldijk’s excellent play, they were not able to crack the keeper in the third.   

With Longwood slowing the game down, the Flames made a rush early in the fourth quarter, which drew a corner. Off a shot from the corner, the Flames illegally stopped the ball behind the keeper, resulting in a penalty stroke for the Lancers. 

Longwood midfielder Zoe Tierney did not miss this chance to tie the game, sending the ball past Liberty redshirt sophomore keeper Michaela Skinner on the Lancers’ first shot of the game. At the 46:44 mark of the game, this completely flipped the script on Liberty’s domination of the match. 

Despite some adversity, the Flames tried to improve their performance. By the end of the match, the Flames had attempted 32 shots, 16 of which found their way on net.   

“We tell these guys all the time that we’re trying to evaluate the process, not the result,” Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker said. “This weekend, the process we thought was very good.” 

The Lancers managed to send the game into overtime after a late push by the Flames, in which they almost scored a last-minute goal. Setting up for the 10-minute 6-on-6 overtime, Liberty wasted no time.   

With a couple of early shots in the overtime period, the Flames found a key opportunity set up by junior midfielder Lou Combrinck, in which Cian slid the ball past the keeper for the win.

“She looked at me and I was like, ‘Here Lou, here,’” Cian said. “She sent me the perfect pass, and I just put it in.” 

Fighting through adversity and ultimately topping Longwood 2-1, the Flames secured this clutch win as big conference games and the postseason approach.

The Flames will battle against Big East leader Connecticut Oct. 25, looking to continue their hot streak. The Flames are 3-2 in Big East play and currently fourth in the conference. 

“We’re really excited for UConn,” Parsley-Blocker said. “This group is really learning what it looks like to have that relentlessness and work rate consistently.”

Bessire is a staff writer for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X.