Liberty University Flames

No. 14 Liberty will host Quinnipiac in BIG EAST action on Friday before closing out the weekend with a match against No. 1-ranked North Carolina, Sunday.

The Lady Flames (6-3, 2-0 BIG EAST) and Bobcats (4-5, 0-2 BIG EAST) will square off at 2 p.m. at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Friday’s match is the Liberty field hockey program’s Colon Cancer Awareness Game. For more information and to donate to the cause, click here.

On Sunday, Liberty will meet No. 1 UNC (8-0) at 1 p.m. in a non-conference contest.

The Lady Flames enter the weekend with a 2-0 BIG EAST mark and are one of two unbeaten teams in conference play along with Providence (4-5, 2-0 BIG EAST). Liberty bested No. 9 Connecticut 4-0 on the road and Longwood 3-0 at home, last weekend.

Meanwhile, Quinnipiac (0-2 BIG EAST) is in search of its first BIG EAST win since Oct. 22, 2021 (5-4 OT win over Villanova). The Bobcats dropped their most recent game to Towson by a 4-1 score. North Carolina (8-0) is 5-0 against top-25 teams this season and defeated No. 15 Wake Forest 2-0 in its most recent action.

Lady Flames News and Notes

• Liberty senior forward Daniella Rhodes was selected as the NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week, Wednesday. The Durban, South Africa native, also this week’s BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, tallied three goals, two assists and eight points in last weekend’s victories. This is Rhodes’ second career national offensive player of the week honor and first since Feb. 17, 2021.

• Liberty is 4-1 all-time versus Quinnipiac. The Lady Flames bested the Bobcats 5-0 in a road league game a season ago (Oct. 1, 2021).

• The Lady Flames earned their first-ever victory over the Tar Heels during the fall 2021 campaign, winning 4-0 at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The victory over then three-time defending national champion UNC snapped the Tar Heels’ 62-match home winning streak. UNC leads the all-time series with Liberty 7-1.

• Liberty has one all-time victory against a No. 1 team. The Lady Flames defeated No. 1 Rutgers 3-2 (4-2 in a shootout) in last year’s NCAA Field Hockey Championship Elite 8 on Nov. 14, 2021.

• Liberty is currently No. 1 in the nation in goals per game (4.56), scoring average (4.48), assists per game (4.11), points per game (13.22), scoring margin (3.71) and shutouts per game (0.67).

• Individually, goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen is No. 4 in the country in goals-against-average (0.83). Rhodes ranks fifth in the nation in points per game (2.56), eighth in assists per game (0.78) and 12th in goals per game (0.89). Bethany Dykema ranks eighth in the country in assists per game (0.78) as well.

• Liberty moved up two slots to No. 14 in this week’s Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. Meanwhile, North Carolina was slotted in the No. 1 position for the first time this year. The Tar Heels were listed as the No. 2-ranked team in the country in the first four polls of the season.

• The Lady Flames are No. 5 in the nation in penalty corners per game (8.00). Liberty has scored 16 goals on short corners in nine games.

Schedule

No. 14 Liberty to Host Quinnipiac, No. 1 North Carolina Over Weekend