No. 16 Liberty, No. 14 Old Dominion Set to Clash in Regular Season Finale
10/27/2022 1:39:55 PM | Field Hockey
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No. 16 Liberty and No. 14 Old Dominion will clash in the regular season finale, Friday afternoon. Match time is 1 p.m. at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va.
Liberty (10-6) leads the BIG EAST with a perfect 6-0 record, a game ahead of ODU (13-2, 5-1 BIG EAST) and No. 11 Connecticut (11-4, 5-1 BIG EAST). The Lady Flames have won 16 straight BIG EAST regular season games.
Liberty defeated the Providence Friars 3-1, last Friday in their second-to-last league contest of the season. The Monarchs edged VCU 2-1 in non-conference action, last Sunday.
Scenarios at Play
• If Liberty defeats ODU, Liberty is the No. 1 seed for the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship. If Temple beats UConn, the winner of Liberty/ODU game is the top seed. If ODU defeats Liberty in this scenario, the Lady Flames would finish as the No. 2 seed and play UConn (No. 3 seed) in the BIG EAST semifinals.
• If UConn wins over Temple and ODU bests Liberty by just one goal, Liberty is the top seed in the BIG EAST Championship.
• If UConn defeats Temple and ODU tops Liberty by two or more goals, Liberty is the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and ODU is the No. 1 seed.
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty and ODU last met in the fall 2021 regular season finale (Oct. 28, 2021). Lizzie Hamlett scored the game-winning goal with 39 seconds left on the clock, lifting Liberty to a 2-1 victory and the BIG EAST regular season title.
• Hamlett and Jodie Conolly were both tabbed to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, Tuesday. Hamlett totaled two goals, one assist and five points in a pair of games last week against No. 7 Virginia (home) and Providence (road). Conolly notched one goal, an assist, three points and a defensive save in two games.
• Liberty’s 16-match BIG EAST regular season winning streak began with a 4-2 win at ODU on March 27, 2021. The day before, the Lady Flames fell 2-1 to the Monarchs in what was their last BIG EAST setback to date. Liberty’s winning streak against conference opponents is 15 games (including postseason play), including two victories in the 2021 BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship.
• Liberty has won 10 or more games in five straight seasons. The Lady Flames sport a 66-26 record since the start of the 2018 campaign.
• The Lady Flames have a program-record nine shutouts in 2022 and lead the country in shutouts per game (0.56).
• Liberty’s offense this year currently ranks second nationally in assists per game (3.44). The Lady Flames are third in the country in four categories, including: goals per game (3.69), scoring average (3.65), points per game (10.81) and scoring margin (2.54).
• Liberty is ranked 16th in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll for a fourth straight week. ODU is in the No. 14 spot for a third consecutive week.
• Liberty is currently No. 21 in the NCAA Field Hockey RPI listing, and ODU is No. 17.
