Liberty to Face Davidson in Spring 2021 Opener, Saturday Afternoon
2/11/2021 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
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The Liberty Lady Flames field hockey team will get its spring 2021 season started at Davidson, Saturday afternoon. The game is set for 2 p.m. at Carol Grotnes Belk Turf Field in Davidson, N.C.
Liberty will be playing a spring season for the first time in program history after its season was moved from the fall to the spring due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lady Flames will be playing for the first time since Nov. 8, 2019, a span of 463 days. There will be no fans permitted at Saturday's game.
Liberty is 5-1 all-time against Davidson, but the two schools have not competed against each other since 2013 when they were both in the NorPac Conference. The Lady Flames defeated the Wildcats on both occasions in 2013.
Liberty finished 10-8 overall and 5-2 in BIG EAST competition during the fall 2019 season. Davidson posted a 3-16 mark and 1-7 record in A-10 competition in 2019.
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty senior forward Jill Bolton earned Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year recognition in the conference's preseason honors, last week. Bolton, a third team All-American in 2019, was also named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team along with sophomore forward Daniella Rhodes (2019 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year) and junior forward Charlotte Vaanhold (2019 All-BIG EAST second team).
• The Lady Flames have been chosen to finish second in the BIG EAST's preseason coaches' poll behind only Connecticut , the eight-time defending conference champion.
• Liberty's roster features five seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and eight freshmen.
• Liberty's spring 2021 regular season schedule currently features 15 total games, 12 of which are conference contests. In BIG EAST play, the Lady Flames will square off with Old Dominion and Temple four times each and UConn and Villanova twice. Liberty's first BIG EAST game is at home versus Villanova, Feb. 20.
• Liberty finished the 2019 season ranked No. 19 in the final national rankings. The first Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll of the spring will be released on March 16.
• Liberty is 5-4 all-time in season openers. The Lady Flames won their most recent season opener by a 5-1 score versus James Madison on Sept. 1, 2019.
• The Lady Flames return eight players who appeared in all 18 games in 2019, including three players who started all of those games in Bolton, Rhodes and Kendra Jones.
• Liberty's seven newcomers this year include: Azul Iritxity Irigoyen (GK), Julie Daels (F) Reagan Underwood (M), Emily Dykema (D), Lexi Hosler (M), Maddie Vicars (D) and Alyssa Maryanopolis (GK)
• This will be the second year that NCAA field hockey matches will feature four 15-minute quarters. Up until the 2019 season, NCAA field hockey games consisted of two 35-minutes halves.
