Liberty Downs Robert Morris 18-5 for Third Straight Win

Liberty downed visiting Robert Morris 18-5 on Saturday at the Liberty Lacrosse Field for its third straight victory overall.

The Lady Flames improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 at home. Liberty’s 13-goal margin of victory is its largest ever over the Colonials. The Lady Flames’ previous biggest victory over Robert Morris was a five-goal win, 14-9, over the Colonials in 2018. RMU slips to 2-4 on the year following the setback.

Liberty featured 10 different goal scorers, led by five goals each from Jordan Baerga and Mackenzie Lehman, who both matched career highs with their efforts.                     

Scoring Summary

Liberty Goals: Jordan Baerga 5, Mackenzie Lehman 5, Cami Merkel 1, Lizzy Ferguson 1, Andrea Colavito 1, Hannah Quast, Olivia Glaze 1, Tori Banks 1, Maggie Anderson 1, Katelyn Weissend 1

Liberty Assists: Jordan Sheive 3, Mia Toscano 2, Jordan Baerga 1, Mackenzie Lehman 1, Cami Merkel 1

Robert Morris Goals: Jenna Irwin 2, Gianna Anthony 1, Colleen Tifft 1, Mackenzie Bell 1

Robert Morris Assists: Jerica Obee 2, Kelsey Nelson 1

Goalkeepers

W: Jennifer Soriero 3-1, five saves

L: Jamie Keller 2-4, seven saves

Turning Point

Liberty took a 4-2 lead after a quarter before outscoring RMU 6-1 in the second stanza to build a commanding 10-3 advantage at the break.  During the second period, Lehman got the scoring started with her second of the game at the 12:32 mark, followed by three straight goals from Baerga (10:53, 10:24 and 3:29 mark).

Lehman notched a hat trick with her goal at the 2:07, and redshirt senior defender Hannah Quast scored with 40 seconds left to get the hosts into double figures and take a 10-3 lead at the half. Quast’s goal was her first since Feb. 19, 2020 against Furman, a span of 745 days.

First Half Summary

• The Colonials scored the first goal of the game only 34 seconds in (Jenna Irwin) and held a 2-1 lead less than four minutes in after Irwin’s goal. The Lady Flames scored nine of the final 10 goals in the opening half.

• Liberty outshot Robert Morris 20-8 and scooped up 17 ground balls in the first 30 minutes.

Second Half Summary

• Liberty outscored RMU 8-2 in the second half, including a 4-0 margin in the fourth quarter.

• The Lady Flames’ final six goals were all from different scorers.

Key Stats & Notes

• Liberty outshot RMU 32-14 and held significant edges in ground balls (26-13), caused turnovers (19-7), free-position percentage (.800-.000) and clearing percentage (.905-.632). Robert Morris won the battle for draw controls 17-8. The Colonials turned over the ball 31 times, compared to 13 for Liberty.

• Liberty’s 19 caused turnovers are a season high, and its 26 ground balls match a season high. Mia Toscano led Liberty in both ground balls (4) and caused turnovers (3).

• Lehman’s six points today (5 g, 1 a) are a new career high for the sophomore midfielder. Lehman leads Liberty in goals (16) and points (20) through five games. Baerga is close behind Lehman with 14 goals and 16 points.

• Lehman and Baerga both now have two five-goal games in their careers. Baerga’s five-goal effort was her second of the season, as she scored five times in the season opener at Vanderbilt, Feb. 12.

• Sophomore midfielder Jordan Sheive established a new career high with three assists in the game.

• Midfielder Katelyn Weissend and defender Maggie Anderson each scored their first goals of the season today. Both players’ goals were each the second of their respective careers. Anderson’s goal was her first since April 26, 2019 versus Howard.

• A total of 24 Lady Flames saw playing time today.

• The Lady Flames have now won back-to-back games by double digits for the first time since the 2018 campaign. Liberty bested Presbyterian 21-5 and Gardner-Webb 19-8 in back-to-back Big South wins that year.

• Liberty improves to 4-4 all-time against Robert Morris. The Lady Flames have won four of the last five meetings.

Up Next

• Liberty will host No. 11 Florida (1-3) on Wednesday afternoon. First draw is noon at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.

• The Lady Flames are 0-1 all-time against the Gators. Florida bested Liberty 17-2 during the 2021 season.