No. 18 Lady Flames to Host Temple, Appalachian State

LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 18 Liberty is set for two home games this weekend, taking on Temple and Appalachian State at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.

The Lady Flames (5-4, 1-1 BIG EAST) will welcome the Temple Owls (5-4, 1-1 BIG EAST) to Lynchburg in what will be their BIG EAST Conference home opener, Friday. Game time is 1 p.m. On Sunday, Liberty will host Appalachian State (6-3) in a non-conference clash at noon. Both matches will be carried live on ESPN+.

Liberty went 1-1 last weekend in two road games at Providence and No. 17 UAlbany. The Lady Flames bested Providence 2-1 for their first conference win of 2024, last Friday. Two days later, Liberty fell 4-2 to UAlbany.

Temple will enter Friday's matchup having won three straight games. The Owls won back-to-back home games against ranked teams last weekend, knocking off No. 18 Old Dominion 1-0 in overtime and No. 20 Monmouth 3-2 in overtime. App State is riding a four-match winning streak. The Mountaineers most recently bested Bellarmine 3-0 on Monday and will play a road game at Kent State on Friday prior to coming to Lynchburg.

Lady Flames News and Notes

The Lady Flames are 13-1 all-time versus the Owls and 12-0 against Temple since joining the BIG EAST. Last season, Liberty shut out Temple 3-0 at Howarth Field in Philadelphia, Pa. (Sept. 29, 2023).
This will be the ninth ever meeting between Liberty and App State but first since 2015. The Lady Flames hold a 7-1 edge in the series. Liberty topped App State 12-0 in the most recent meeting on Nov. 7, 2015 at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. The Lady Flames faced the Mountaineers in an exhibition game this fall (Aug. 23).
Liberty is 8-0 all-time in BIG EAST home openers. Last year, the Lady Flames shut out Old Dominion 2-0 in their first BIG EAST home contest.
The Lady Flames have faced Temple one other time in their BIG EAST home opener, back in 2018. Liberty prevailed 8-2 in that match.
Liberty senior Martu Cian garnered inclusion on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll the second time this season, Tuesday. The forward totaled one goal, one assist and three points in two games this past weekend. Cian leads the squad in goals (5) and points (11) through nine games.
Liberty sits at 23rd in the most updated NCAA Field Hockey RPI listing. Temple is No. 28, and App State is No. 35.
The Lady Flames are No. 18 in the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. No. 8 Connecticut is the only other BIG EAST team in the national rankings. Liberty has been ranked as high as No. 11 on two occasions this fall.
Two members of the Mountaineers' coaching staff have ties to Liberty. App State head coach Emily Dinsmore played field hockey (2011-12) and lacrosse (2011-12) for the Lady Flames. Assistant coach Pima Iturraspe played for Liberty for two seasons (2022 and 2023).

Schedule

No. 18 Lady Flames to Host Temple, Appalachian State

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Players Mentioned

Martu Cian

Pima Iturraspe