No. 6 Liberty to Host Connecticut in BIG EAST Play, Friday Night

LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 6 Liberty will host Connecticut in BIG EAST play, Friday evening at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Game time is 6 p.m.

Liberty sits atop the BIG EAST standings at 5-0 in conference play and is off to its best start in school history with a 14-1 overall record. UConn brings a 5-10 mark and 2-3 league record into the tilt. A win over the Huskies would give the Lady Flames at least a share of the BIG EAST regular season title and lock up the No. 1 seed for the 2023 BIG EAST Championship.

Liberty has won its last nine games, including a pair of victories over Quinnipiac (2-1 final) and James Madison (3-2 final) last weekend. The Lady Flames are sixth in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. It is their highest position in the rankings since also being ranked No. 6 in the 2022 preseason poll. Liberty is also sixth in the current NCAA Field Hockey RPI listing.

UConn is coming off a pair of losses last weekend to Providence (2-1 final, double OT) and No. 12 Boston College (4-1 final).

Lady Flames News and Notes

Liberty has won the last five meetings with UConn, including a 2-1 triumph over the Huskies in the 2022 BIG EAST Championship semifinals. The Huskies hold an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series.
The last meeting between the two teams in Lynchburg came on Sept. 24, 2021, a 3-1 Lady Flames victory.
Liberty and UConn have combined to win each of the last 11 BIG EAST Tournament titles. The Lady Flames are the back-to-back BIG EAST champions, while the Huskies won nine straight titles from 2012 through spring 2021.
Liberty fifth-year senior Jodie Conolly was selected as the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this year and fourth time in her career. Conolly led Liberty in goals (2), assists (2, tied) and points (6) in last weekend's pair of wins.
Fifth-year senior Bethany Dykema was tabbed to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after a four-point (1 g, 2 a) weekend. Dykema is the program's all-time career assists leader with 41.
Senior goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen is fifth in the nation in goals-against-average (0.78) and seventh in save percentage (.803). Conolly is eighth in the country in assists per game (0.67). Iritxity Irigoyen leads the BIG EAST in both categories, while Conolly is second in the conference in assists per game.
As a team, Liberty ranks No. 3 nationally in goals-against-average (0.76), No. 5 in scoring margin (1.89), No. 6 in save percentage (.812) and No. 8 in shutouts per game (0.40). The Lady Flames lead the BIG EAST in goals-against-average, scoring margin and save percentage.

Schedule

No. 6 Liberty to Host Connecticut in BIG EAST Play, Friday Night

Players Mentioned

Jodie Conolly

Bethany Dykema

Azul Iritxity Irigoyen