11/20/2021 5:44:48 PM | Field Hockey
Lizzie Hamlett Saturday Interview
Live Stats: Liberty vs. Northwestern
Live Video: Liberty vs. Northwestern (ESPNU)
NCAA Field Hockey Championship Program
Liberty Field Hockey Instagram
NCAA Field Hockey Championship Bracket
BIG EAST Field Hockey Home Page
No. 9 Liberty is set to face No. 7 Northwestern in the title game of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship on Sunday afternoon. Game time is 2 p.m. at Michigan’s Phyllis Ocker Field Hockey Field and can been seen on ESPNU.
Liberty (20-2) defeated No. 5 Maryland in dramatic fashion on Friday to reach its first NCAA title game in school history. Senior Charlotte Vaanhold scored the game-winning goal in double overtime, giving the Lady Flames a 3-2 victory over the Terrapins. Northwestern (17-5) topped No. 12 Harvard 2-1 in overtime in yesterday’s other national semifinal to reach its first championship game in program history.
NCAA Field Hockey Championship Title Game (ESPNU)
2 p.m. – No. 9 Liberty (20-2) vs. No. 7 Northwestern (17-5)
Firsts
• Both teams are making their first appearances in a field hockey national title game. This is the first time since 1987 that both teams in the championship game are playing in it for the first time. The first-ever title game in 1981 was the only other time before tomorrow that both teams were making their first appearance in the NCAA Division I Field Hockey national final.
• This is the first championship game appearance for any Liberty Athletics team at the Division I level.
• This is also the first time in NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship history that a former player has competed against her former head coach in the title game. Parsley-Blocker played for current Wildcats head coach Tracey Fuchs from 2010-13. Parsley-Blocker was a second team All-America honoree as a senior and a four-time All-West region selection.
• This is Liberty’s first 20-win season in program history. The previous record was 17 wins, set by the 2013 squad.
• Liberty’s first season of Division I field hockey was in 2011. The Lady Flames are 137-76 (.643) with three NCAA Tournament appearances in those 11 years.
Liberty History in the NCAA Championship and History Versus the Four Teams
• NCAA Championship appearances for Liberty: 3 – 2013, 2014 and Fall 2021
• NCAA Tournament record: 4-2
• NCAA Tournament wins: Liberty topped No. 5 Maryland 3-2 in double overtime on Friday. Liberty edged No. 1 Rutgers 3-2 in a shootout last Sunday to reach the Final Four. The Lady Flames bested No. 12 Saint Joseph’s 2-0, last Friday in the Sweet 16. Liberty’s other NCAA Tournament win was a 3-1 victory over Richmond in an opening round/play-in game on Nov. 12, 2014 at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
• NCAA Tournament losses: No. 20 Liberty lost 2-1 to No. 1 North Carolina in a first round game on Nov. 15, 2014 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Lady Flames fell to No. 14 Delaware 1-0 in a play-in game on Nov. 13, 2013 in Newark, Del.
• Series history with Northwestern: Northwestern leads 1-0. Northwestern topped Liberty 4-3 this season, handing the Lady Flames one of their two losses. The game was played on Sept. 7 at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
• What a win on Sunday over Northwestern would mean: A win on Friday would be Liberty’s first-ever team championship at the Division I level in any sport.
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty enters the national championship game with the nation’s top offense. The Lady Flames lead the nation in goals per game (3.64), scoring average (3.53), scoring margin (2.50), points per game (10.41) and assists per game (3.14). Liberty also ranks eighth in the country in goals-against-average (1.08) and ninth in penalty corners per game (7.50).
• Senior Jill Bolton paces the team in goals (19) and points (46). She ranks eighth in the country in points per game (2.05) as well as goals per game (0.86). Junior Daniella Rhodes is seventh nationally in points per game (2.05) and ninth in goals per game (0.84).
• At 29 years old, Liberty Field Hockey Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker is the youngest head coach in Division I field history to coach in a national championship game.
• Liberty is 10-2 against top-25 teams this fall and has won nine straight games against ranked foes.
• Liberty’s current 17-game winning streak is 14 games longer than Northwestern’s current streak of three straight wins.
• No team has won three straight NCAA Field Hockey Championship matches in either overtime or a shootout. Liberty has won each of its last two NCAA Tournament games in that fashion, needing a shootout to top No. 1 Rutgers (Elite Eight) and No. 5 Maryland (Final Four). The last team to win-back-to-back tournament contests in overtime was Maryland in 2018, defeating UConn 2-1 in overtime in the Elite 8 and Princeton 1-0 in the semifinals in overtime.
• Old Dominion in 1983 is the last team to win both the semifinal and final in overtime, defeating UMass in overtime in the semis and UConn in three OTs in the final.
• The Lady Flames have scored goals on 27 of their 165 penalty corners this season. In five postseason games, Liberty has scored four goals on 34 corners (11.8 percent). In 17 regular season matches, the Lady Flames scored on 23-of-131 opportunities (17.6 percent).
• Liberty paced all BIG EAST squads with six all-conference honorees, led by BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and All-BIG EAST first team member Daniella Rhodes. Rhodes, forward Jill Bolton and defender Bethany Dykema were all unanimous first team selections, while goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen was also named to the first team. Lizzie Hamlett and Jodie Conolly rounded out the Lady Flames All-BIG EAST honorees, as they were both named to the second team.
• Liberty’s BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team selections included Bolton (MVP), Rhodes, Bethany Dykema and Charlotte Vaanhold.
