Liberty University
(10-4)
UMass Lowell
(5-11)
No. 9 Liberty Blanks UMass Lowell
10/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
The No. 9 Lady Flames field hockey squad cruised to an 8-0 victory against the UMass Lowell Riverhawks on Friday at the Wicked Blue Field on the campus of UMass Lowell.
Liberty collected its first shutout victory of the 2015 campaign. The Lady Flames also broke the single-game program record for shots with 40, surpassing the previous mark of 36 against Georgetown on Oct. 28, 2014 and Saint Louis on Sept. 27, 2013.
With the win, the Lady Flames improve to 10-4 on the season while the Riverhawks suffer their 10th consecutive loss to fall to 5-11 on the year.
Natalie Barr and Alynn Richardson each collected two goals in the 8-0 victory. Richardson's two-goal performance marked the first time in her young career that the Liberty sophomore has notched a multi-goal contest.
The Lady Flames rode a five-goal first half spurt as five different players notched a goal in the opening stanza. The scoring began in the first minute of play when Cassidy Bremner connected on the first goal of her career. Bremner corralled the ball following a rebound and buried a shot over the outstretched arms of Kelsey Federico.
Nine minutes later Natalie Barr recorded her 13th goal of the season off another rebound. Sarah Gipe threw the ball into the circle and Federico kicked the ball away. Barr snatched the ball and ripped a reverse shot into the top right corner of the net.
The Liberty lead was extended to three in the 12th minute when Bethany Barr scored off the Liberty short corner. Twin sister Serena Barr whipped a pass in the middle and Bethany deflected the ball high above Federico's pads and into the back of the frame for her sixth goal of the season.
Richardson notched her first goal of the contest in the 27th minute of the first stanza. After corralling the ball on a breakaway, Richardson deked past the lone defender and sent a reverse shot into the top of the frame to give Liberty a four-goal lead.
The final goal of the opening frame came from Serena Barr off the attacking penalty corner. Barr's strike was set up by Hannah Jones and Cassidy Bremner. Jones inserted the ball to the top of the circle to Bremner who stopped the ball and set up Barr's shot. The junior defender ripped the ball into the base of the goal to cap off the first-half scoring for the Lady Flames.
Natalie Barr and Richardson each collected a goal in the second half, just six minutes apart from each other to give Liberty the 7-0 advantage.
Sarah Gipe recorded the final Liberty goal of the contest in the 68th minute. Gipe's goal came on the team's record-setting 37th shot of the contest as the senior forward dribbled to the left side of the circle. Once free, the Pennsylvania native ripped a reverse shot into the bottom right corner of the goal to solidify the 8-0 victory.
For the contest, Liberty outshot the Riverhawks by a tally of 40-9 including a 22-3 advantage in shots on goal.
The Lady Flames also owned a 14-4 advantage in short corners.
Mallory Cuccio notched three saves during the contest, bringing her season total to 61 and career total to 191.
Natalie Barr needs just six goals in the final four games to set the new single-season record for goals scored with 20.
The Lady Flames return to action on Sunday at noon with a showdown against Providence in Providence, R.I.
Team Stats
BREMNER, Cassidy (1)
Ball deflected over goalie on corner
1:00
BARR, Natalie (13)
off goalie shot high, reverse chip
10:01
BARR, Bethany (6)
Assisted By: BARR, Serena
Tip in off corner, deflected high into n
11:29
RICHARDSON, Alynn (2)
made a move past defender, shot high on
26:58
BARR, Serena (7)
Assisted By: BREMNER, Cassidy , JONES, Hannah
direct shot off corner
29:55
RICHARDSON, Alynn (3)
Assisted By: DOMBACH, Erin
2 on 1 in circle, pass in, shot into far
39:46
BARR, Natalie (14)
Assisted By: BARR, Serena
pass to right side of circle beat goalie
45:55
GIPE, Sarah (8)
run to right side of circle, beat goalie
67:40
