No. 10 Lady Flames Shut Out Golden Bears 3-0 on Road

No. 10 Liberty collected a 3-0 road victory against the California Golden Bears, Sunday afternoon at Underhill Field.

Liberty improves to 2-0 on the young season, while Cal falls to 1-1.

Bethany Dykema, Jill Bolton, and Daniella Rhodes each scored in the first half, and Liberty’s defense held strong during the second half to preserve the shutout. Lady Flames goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen made two saves to earn her fourth career shutout.

Scoring Summary

14’ – LIBERTY – Bethany Dykema (Daniella Rhodes) | Penalty Corner

15’ – LIBERTY – Jill Bolton (Jodie Conolly)

28’ – LIBERTY – Daniella Rhodes (Jill Bolton)

Goalkeepers

W: Azul Iritxity Irigoyen 2-0, two saves

L: Cato Knipping 1-1, zero saves

Turning Point

Liberty converted two goals in a 52-second span late in the first quarter to go up 2-0 through 15 minutes of action. Bethany Dykema swept a Rhodes feed past Cal netminder Cato Knipping at the 13:19 mark for the Lady Flames’ first goal of the contest and her first goal of the season. At the 14:11 mark, Bolton tipped a Jodie Conolly pass into the back of the cage for her fourth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead for the visitors.

The Lady Flames’ Daniella Rhodes added an insurance goal in the 28th minute, taking a Bolton pass and beating the keeper to her left for a 3-0 Liberty lead heading into the break.

Cal was awarded all four of its penalty corners during the middle stages of the third period, but the Lady Flames defense held strong to keep the hosts off the board.

Key Stats & Notes

• Liberty finished with an 8-6 edge in shots and a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Lady Flames outshot the Golden Bears 6-1 in the opening 30 minutes.

• Liberty has yet to surrender a penalty corner goal through two games while scoring three goals off corners. In 16 games during the spring, the Lady Flames yielded only four penalty corner markers.

• Bolton paces Liberty with 10 points (4 g, 2 a) through two matches. Bolton, Rhodes, Conolly and Hamlett each have two assists so far this year.

• This is the third straight season in which Liberty has started 2-0. The Lady Flames have outscored their opposition 10-1 this season. The plus-nine goal differential is the best mark through two games in school history.

• Liberty improves to 3-1 all-time versus Cal. This is the first time the Lady Flames have ever shut out the Golden Bears.

Up Next

The Lady Flames will wrap up their time on the West Coast with a game at No. 25 Stanford (0-1), Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Pacific) at Varsity Turf Field in Stanford, Calif. Stanford is Liberty’s first of seven opponents who appear in the top-25 of the Preseason Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.

Liberty and Stanford have split their four all-time meetings. The Lady Flames bested the Cardinal in both the 2013 and 2014 NorPac title games to qualify for the NCAA Field Hockey Championship.