Liberty University
7-5, 3-0ASUN
Queens
7-5, 2-1ASUN
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Queens | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Lady Flames Take Sole Possession of 1st Place in ASUN With 14-5 Win at Queens
4/8/2023 7:08:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
Liberty took sole possession of first place in the ASUN Conference with a 14-5 road win at Queens, Saturday afternoon at Dickson Field.
With the win, the Lady Flames improve to 7-5 overall and 3-0 in the ASUN. Liberty is the only unbeaten team remaining in the league. Four different Liberty players recorded three or more goals on the day, led by a game-high four goals from sophomore attacker Cami Merkel. Senior attacker Lizzy Ferguson recorded a game-high 16 draw controls, the second most in a game in program history.
Queens slips to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference and sees its three-game winning streak halted. The Lady Flames held the Royals to a season-low five goals today. Queens entered the day with its fewest total being six goals in the season opener versus Richmond, Feb. 11.
Saturday's meeting was the first between the two squads in women's lacrosse.
Scoring Summary
Liberty Goals: Cami Merkel 4, Mackenzie Lehman 3, Jordan Sheive 3, Olivia Glaze 3, Kelly Scott 1
Liberty Assists: Mackenzie Lehman 2, Lucy Shimek 1
Queens Goals: Shannon Kingston 2, Shannon Donovan 1, Kayleen Favreau 1, Alexi Flores 1
Queens Assists: Shannon Donovan 1, Maura O'Donoghue 1, Isabella Swanson 1
Goalkeepers
W: Taylor Gallarello 6-0, two saves
L: Sharn Muffett 3-1, five saves
Turning Point
Liberty raced out to a 6-0 lead in the game's first 15:45 and never looked back. The Lady Flames 5-0 through one quarter of play, aided by two goals apiece from Cami Merkel and Jordan Sheive and one goal Olivia Glaze. All four tallies from Merkel and Sheive came on free-position shots, with Sheive's free-position tally at the 49-second mark of the first quarter putting the guests ahead 5-0. Mackenzie Lehman increased the lead to 6-0 with her first of three goals on the day at the 14:45 mark of the second quarter. Liberty took an 8-2 lead into the half.
The Lady Flames scored the first six goals of the first, featuring different goal scorers, to build a commanding 13-2 lead with 14:08 to play in the contest. Merkel scored her game-high fourth goal 100 seconds (13:20 mark) into the second half.
First Half Summary
• Merkel recorded three of her four goals before the break, propelling Liberty to an 8-2 lead at intermission.
• Lizzy Ferguson won 11 of her game-high 16 draws in the opening 30 minutes. Liberty won 12 draws in the first half, and Queens failed to win a draw.
Second Half Summary
• Coming out of the locker room, Liberty scored the first six goals to take a 12-goal lead, 14-2.
• The Lady Flames' Sheive, Glaize and Lehman all completed their hat tricks during that run.
• Lucy Shimek notched her second career assist, assisting on Glaze's third and final goal of the day at the 10:39 mark of the fourth period.
Key Stats & Notes
• Liberty outshot Queens 31-14 and held edges in ground balls (26-23) and caused turnovers (18-13). The Lady Flames won 18 of the 23 total draws in the contest, paced by Ferguson's 16 draws.
• Ferguson's 16 draws are the second most she has had in a game in her career. The attacker has a career-best 17 draws versus Winthrop, March 23. Ferguson's 16 draw controls are tied for the eighth most of any player in a game at the Division I level, this spring.
• Ferguson passed the century mark for draw controls with today's effort, getting to 115 draws. Coming into the season, the senior had totaled 106 draws in all of her career. She is up to 221 career draws, third most in program history.
• Hannah Davis and Taylor Gallarello paced the visitors with four ground balls apiece. Davis led the Lady Flames with three caused turnovers.
• Merkel paced the Lady Flames with nine goals in two ASUN games this weekend.
• Gallarello made two saves in the first half and improved to a perfect 6-0 on the season. Mara Tellers came on in relief of Gallarello for the second half and led Liberty with three saves.
• This is Liberty's third 3-0 start to ASUN play in four full seasons.
• The Lady Flames handed the Royals their first-ever loss in ASUN play and break out of a tie for first place in the process. Liberty (3-0) paces the ASUN, followed by Jacksonville (3-1), Coastal Carolina (2-1) and Queens (2-1) rounding out the top four.
• A total of 29 Liberty players saw playing time today.
Up Next
• Liberty will return home to face No. 9 Florida (8-3), Wednesday afternoon First draw is 1 p.m. at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
• The Flames are 0-2 all-time against the Gators. Liberty and Florida last met on March 9, 2022, a 14-6 Gators victory in Lynchburg.
Main Photo at Top of Story: No. 11 Grace Loughery
