Liberty University
(8-3)
Lehigh
(2-9)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Lehigh | 1 | 0 | 1 |
8 First-Half Goals Boost Liberty over Lehigh
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
No. 12 Liberty set the pace early in Friday's 9-1 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa. The Lady Flames rode an eight-goal first half to improve to 8-3 on the season while Lehigh falls to 2-9 on the campaign.
Six first-half goals were accounted for by the Barr sisters, Bethany, Natalie and Serena, who each scored two goals in the opening stanza. Friday marked the first time that the Barr sisters have each recorded a multi-goal game in the same contest.
Natalie Barr collected the first goal of the contest just five minutes in. Barr corralled the ball that Lehigh's Julia Ward attempted to kick away and ripped a reverse shot into the back of the net for her 10th goal of the season and 50th career goal.
Two minutes later, Bethany notched her third goal of the season, assisted by sister Serena. Off the short corner, Serena launched a pass in the direction of Bethany, and the junior midfielder redirected the ball into the back of the net to give Liberty a 2-0 advantage.
Serena netted her first goal exactly three minutes after assisting on Bethany's in the 10th minute. Following another penalty corner, Barr ripped a shot into the bottom right corner of the goal to extend the lead to 3-0 as each Barr sister collected one goal in the first 10 minutes.
Lehigh's Amanda Granger recorded her team's only mark in the 18th minute, following a redirection from Mallory Cuccio.
Any chance of a Lehigh comeback was quickly answered when Liberty notched five goals in a span of seven minutes to close out the first half. Each Barr sister netted a goal during the five-goal spurt along with Sarah Gipe's sixth goal and Ashlee Krulock's eighth marker of the season.
The Lady Flames' lone goal of the second half came off another short corner when Erin Bartley found Hannah Jones at the corner of the frame. Bartley passed the ball back to the corner after Jones inserted the ball. Jones flicked the pass behind Katie Morris to solidify the 9-1 tally.
For the contest, Liberty recorded a total of 28 shots for the fifth most shots in a single contest in program history. The Mountain Hawks took seven shots with just four shots on goal.
The Lady Flames forced 14 penalty corners, scoring on six of the attempts. Lehigh forced just three penalty corners during the contest.
Mallory Cuccio played the first half of the contest, allowing one goal. Cuccio needs just one save to pass Ann Jefferis for the most saves in program history with 179. Freshman Erin Bradshaw stood in frame for Liberty in the second half, turning away three shots on goal.
The Lady Flames return to action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when Liberty travels to Newark, Del., to take on the No. 13 Delaware Blue Hens. Liberty and Delaware last met in the 2013 NCAA Tournament play-in game when Delaware ousted the Lady Flames, 1-0, in Newark, Del.
Team Stats
BARR, Natalie (10)
GK kicked ball away, #19 coralled and fo
4:36
BARR, Bethany (3)
Assisted By: BARR, Serena
Direct shot off a penalty corner, tipped
6:49
BARR, Serena (4)
Assisted By: BREMNER, Cassidy , JONES, Hannah
Tip off penalty corner.
9:49
Granger, Amanda (2)
GK aggressively made play, #1 coralled b
17:50
BARR, Natalie (11)
High backhand shot from distance, GK got
20:38
GIPE, Sarah (6)
Assisted By: JULIUS, Abby
Pass to far side near corner of goal, lo
22:21
KRULOCK, Ashlee (9)
Assisted By: BARR, Natalie
Deflection in front off penalty corner.
24:34
BARR, Bethany (4)
GK kicked rebound out, #12 hard shot for
26:52
BARR, Serena (5)
Off deflection in front, coralled ball a
28:04
JONES, Hannah (3)
Assisted By: BARTLEY, Erin
Tip at corner of cage off penalty corner
49:36
