Liberty University
(5-7, 3-2BIG EAST)
No. 1 Connecticut
(14-0, 5-0BIG EAST)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| UConn | 5 | 2 | 7 |
No. 1 UConn Defeats Liberty, 7-2
10/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Top-ranked Connecticut scored the first five goals of the match on its way to a 7-2 victory over Liberty at the George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon.
Montana Fleming scored the game's first goal during the sixth minute on a 2-on-1 breakaway, assisted by Svea Boker. Boker tallied four assists on the afternoon, while Amanda Collins scored two goals for the Huskies, who had six different players get on the scoresheet.
With the win, UConn improves to 14-0 and 5-0 in the BIG EAST, while Liberty falls to 5-7 and 3-2 in the BIG EAST.
Liberty scored once in each half, with goals coming off the sticks of Agueda Moroni and Abby Julius.
The Huskies took a 2-0 lead at 10:35 on a goal from Collins, assisted by Charlotte Veitner. Veitner scored her 21st goal of the season during the 21st minute to put UConn ahead 3-0.
Darby Smith and Amelia Iacobucci scored goals in the 22nd and 28th minutes, respectively, to give Connecticut a five-goal cushion.
Moroni put Liberty on the board at 33:02 with a penalty corner goal to make it 5-1. Mallory Fortenbaugh and Bethany Barr assisted on the goal. Fortenbaugh's assist was the first of her collegiate career, while Barr's assist was her team-best eighth of 2016.
The Huskies tacked on two more goals in the early stages of the second half to go up 7-1. At 36:46, Collins tallied her second goal of the day and 14th of the year on a backhanded shot past Lady Flames' goalkeeper Allison Schaefer. Casey Umstead scored at 46:21, as she sent a blast off a penalty corner past Schaefer.
The final tally of the afternoon came from Julius, who entered the right side of the circle and ripped a blast past UConn keeper Nina Klein into the left side of the goal cage for her fifth goal of the year to make it 7-2.
Schaefer made 10 saves in goal for Liberty, while Klein made seven stops to earn the victory for Connecticut. The Huskies outshot the Lady Flames, 32-12, on the afternoon, while Liberty held a 6-2 advantage in penalty corners drawn.
Liberty returns to the Northeast on Friday, when the team travels to Providence, R.I, to take on Providence. The Friars currently stand at 11-3 overall and 4-1 in the BIG EAST. Providence plays at Brown on Tuesday before hosting the Lady Flames on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Lennon Family Field.
Team Stats
FLEMING, Montana (2)
Assisted By: BOKER, Svea
2 on 1 breakaway
5:17
COLLINS, Amanda (13)
Assisted By: VEITNER, Charlotte
Breakaway
10:35
VEITNER, Charlotte (21)
Assisted By: BOKER, Svea
Breakaway
20:26
SMITH, Darby (2)
Assisted By: VEITNER, Charlotte
Stolen in front of net
21:19
IACOBUCCI, Amelia (4)
Assisted By: BOKER, Svea
Pass in front of the net
27:13
MORONI, Agueda (4)
Assisted By: BARR, Bethany , FORTENBAUGH, Mallory
Off a penalty corner
33:02
COLLINS, Amanda (14)
Breakaway
36:46
UMSTEAD, Casey (14)
Assisted By: BOKER, Svea
Off a penalty corner
46:21
JULIUS, Abby (5)
GOAL by LIBERTY JULIUS, Abby, goal number 5 for season.
56:39
