No. 1 seed Liberty Falls to No. 2 seed Jacksonville 14-13 in OT of 2023 ASUN Title Game

No. 1 seed Liberty fought hard throughout but came up short of its first ever ASUN title with a 14-13 overtime loss to No. 2 seed Jacksonville, Saturday afternoon at Rock Stadium. Liberty finishes the season as the ASUN runner-up with a 12-7 record.

Jacksonville improves to 12-7 overall and has won six straight ASUN titles. The Dolphins earn the league's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship.

Liberty managed to obtain a 9-7 halftime lead aided by five straight goals to end the second quarter. The Lady Flames outscored the Dolphins 3-1 in the fourth quarter to force overtime tied at 13-13.

Cami Merkel had a chance to secure the win for the Lady Flames with a free position shot with just under three seconds remaining in regulation. The sophomore's shot got past the goalkeeper but rang off the post to send the game to overtime.

Jacksonville's Brianna Samuels grabbed the game-winning goal with 2:20 left in the first overtime.

Cami Merkel (4 g, 1 a), Mackenzie Lehman (3 g, 1 a) and Lizzy Ferguson (9 dc, 4 gb) were named the ASUN All-Tournament after the game.

The Lady Flames finish as ASUN runner-up to Jacksonville for the fourth straight season.

Scoring Summary

Liberty Goals: Cami Merkel 4, Mackenzie Lehman 3, Kelly Scott 2, Jordan Shieve 1, Tori Banks 1, Katie Colavito 1, Olivia Glaize 1

Liberty Assists: Lizzy Ferguson 1, Mackenzie Lehman 1, Cami Merkel 1

Jacksonville Goals: Sarah Elms 5, Grace Hobson 3, Brianna Samuels 3, Molly Brock 2, Lauren Craft 1

Jacksonville Assists: Grace Hobson 3, Lauren Craft 1, Lauren Ellis 1, Sarah Elms 1, Brianna Samuels 1

Goalkeepers

W: Paige Pagano, 2-1, three saves

L: Taylor Gallarello 11-2, six saves

Turning Point

After an intense three minutes of overtime with each team seeing chances, the field flipped going into the second part half of overtime. JU's Grace Hobson (3 g, 3 a) made a pass to Brianna Samuels (3 g, 1 a) from behind the net with Samuels converting on an underhand shot in front of the net for the game winner.

First Half Summary

• After the game was tied 2-2 just under four minutes in, Jacksonville scored three straight to push the lead after the first quarter to 5-2.

• Liberty trailed 6-3 but stormed back by scoring six of the next seven goals, including five straight, to end the half with a 9-7 lead.

• The Lady Flames outshot the Dolphins 21-16 in the first half.

• Liberty had three chances on free position shots in the first quarter that they could not convert. The squad set that right by converting 3-of-4 attempts in the second quarter.

Second Half Summary

• Jacksonville came out strong in the second half, outscoring Liberty 5-1 in the third quarter.

• Jacksonville subbed out starting goalkeeper Addy Tisdal (nine saves) in favor of Paige Pagano (three saves).

• Jacksonville never led by more than two in the second half, keeping Liberty within distance.

• Trailing 13-11 with eight minutes left, Merkel would score the next two goals in under two minutes to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:13 left in regulation.

Key Stats & Notes

• Merkel, Lehman and Ferguson were all honored on the ASUN All-Tournament team for the first time. Merkel led Liberty with nine goals, three assists and 12 points in two games this weekend. In four career postseason games, the sophomore attacker has 16 games.

• Lehman finished the championship with seven goals, two assists, nine points, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Ferguson tallied two goals, three assists, five points, 16 draw controls, four ground balls and four caused turnovers.

• Liberty held narrow edges in draw controls (17-15) and caused turnovers (11-10), while JU held edges in total shots (32-30) and ground balls (17-14). Both squads scored four free-position tallies. The Lady Flames converted 16-of-18 clearing chances (88.9 percent), compared to 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) for the Dolphins.

• Ferguson finishes the season with a program-record 182 draw controls and a school-record 288 draws for her career.

• Liberty senior midfielder Tori Banks recorded a career-high seven draw controls. Her previous career high was five, achieved this season against the Dolphins on April 1.

• Liberty falls to 1-11 all-time versus Jacksonville, including 0-4 in ASUN title games.