Liberty Field Hockey Ranked No. 6 in Preseason NFHCA Coaches Poll
8/23/2022 2:01:26 PM | Field Hockey
Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll
Coming off a historic season, the Liberty Flames field hockey team earned a preseason No. 6 national ranking entering the 2022 season. The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) released its first Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon.
Liberty’s No. 6 ranking is its best preseason national ranking in program history, eclipsing the fall 2021 season’s No. 10 ledgering. The Lady Flames have been nationally ranked in the poll in each of the last six years in which there was a preseason poll to open the year (no preseason poll in spring 2021).
Liberty is one of three BIG EAST Conference teams listed in the first poll and is joined by No. 15 Connecticut and No. 19 Old Dominion.
This fall, the Lady Flames will compete against six teams who appear in the preseason top-25 poll, including: No. 1 Northwestern (Sept. 9, away), No. 2 North Carolina (Oct. 2, home), No. 9 Louisville (Oct. 9, home), No. 12 Virginia (Oct. 18, home), No. 15 Connecticut (Sept. 23, away) and No. 19 Old Dominion (Oct. 28, away). The Sept. 9 contest at No. 1 Northwestern will be a rematch of last year’s NCAA Field Hockey Championship title game.
Liberty, the 2021 NCAA Field Hockey Championship national runner-up, finished last season with a 20-3 overall mark, 7-0 BIG EAST record and won its first BIG EAST title. The Lady Flames finished the year ranked No. 9 in the final national poll and No. 7 in the NCAA Field Hockey RPI.
Liberty’s highest ever national ranking was No. 4, achieved on March 23, 2021. The mark is the highest ranking of any sport for Liberty Athletics at the NCAA Division I level.
The Lady Flames will begin their season on Saturday versus Kent State at Indiana. Game time is noon at the IU Field Hockey Complex in Bloomington, Ind.
Liberty Field Hockey All-Time Preseason National Rankings
2022 – No. 6
Fall 2021 – No. 10
Spring 2021 – N/A*
2019 – No. 20
2018 – No. 23
2017 – No. 25
2016 – No. 13
2015 – Not Ranked
2014 – Not Ranked
2013 – Not Ranked
2012 – Not Ranked
2011 – Not Ranked
*There was no preseason poll during the spring 2021 season.
