BIG EAST Champion Liberty to Face Saint Joseph’s in 1st Round of NCAA FH Championship
11/7/2021 11:23:14 PM | Field Hockey
NCAA Field Hockey Championship Bracket
BIG EAST champion Liberty is set to face Saint Joseph’s in the opening round of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship.
The Lady Flames (17-2) will face the A10 champion Hawks (16-4), Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at Rutgers’ Bauer Track and Field Complex in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers (18-3) won the Big Ten Tournament title and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights face the winner of Wednesday’s opening round game between CAA Champion Delaware (12-8) and NEC Champion Fairfield (14-7), Friday at 11 a.m.
This will be the third-ever meeting between Liberty and Saint Joseph’s but first since 2013. The all-time series is even 1-1. Liberty fell 2-1 to Saint Joseph’s in the 2012 season opener but topped the Hawks 4-0 in the 2013 season opener.
No. 1 seed Liberty topped No. 2 seed and nine-time defending BIG EAST champion UConn 1-0 in the 2021 BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship title game earlier on Sunday, securing its first BIG EAST title in program history.
With the win, Liberty punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and for the third time in school history. Liberty senior forward Jill Bolton scored the game’s lone goal in the 42nd minute. Bolton was named BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship MVP.
Liberty, the eighth-ranked team in the nation, matched a school record with its 17th victory of the season. The Lady Flames improved to 17-2 on the year and extended their winning streak to 14 games, the longest current streak in the country. Liberty was both the BIG EAST regular season champion (7-0) and tournament champion.
Saint Joseph’s, the 12th-ranked team in the country, bested VCU 1-0 in Saturday’s A10 Championship title game.
Opening round games will be played on two campus sites, Wednesday. First and second round games will be played on four campus sites, Friday and Sunday. Michigan will host the semifinals and final on Nov. 19 and Nov. 21 at Phyllis Ocker Field Hockey Field in Ann Arbor, Mich.
