Liberty will face Indiana and Kent State to open the year.
No. 11 Liberty to Begin 2024 Season Against Indiana and Kent State
8/29/2024 12:17:00 PM | Field Hockey
LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 11-ranked Liberty will start its 2024 season against Indiana and Kent State over the weekend. The Lady Flames will face the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday at noon, followed by a game against the Kent State Golden Flashes at 1 p.m. Both games will be held at Kent State's Murphy-Mellis Field in Kent, Ohio.
This is the third straight year Liberty will face Indiana and Kent State in its first two contests of the year. Last year, the Lady Flames faced both teams at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Liberty bested Kent State 2-0 and topped Indiana 2-1 in overtime in Lynchburg. In 2022, the Lady Flames downed the Golden Flashes 9-0 and knocked off the Hoosiers 2-0.
Liberty is 2-0 all-time against Indiana and 5-0 all-time versus Kent State.
Lady Flames News and Notes
This is the third straight year Liberty will face Indiana and Kent State in its first two contests of the year. Last year, the Lady Flames faced both teams at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Liberty bested Kent State 2-0 and topped Indiana 2-1 in overtime in Lynchburg. In 2022, the Lady Flames downed the Golden Flashes 9-0 and knocked off the Hoosiers 2-0.
Liberty is 2-0 all-time against Indiana and 5-0 all-time versus Kent State.
Lady Flames News and Notes
- Liberty has been picked to finish first in the conference in the 2024 BIG EAST Field Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll. This is the third straight year the Lady Flames have been picked to win the league.
- Liberty received four of the eight available first-place votes and 46 points in the poll. Defending BIG EAST champion Old Dominion was selected to finish second in the league, receiving two first-place votes and 43 points. Connecticut is tied for third in the poll with two first-place votes and 33 points. Temple is the other squad tied for third with 33 points. Rounding out the poll are Villanova (fifth, 26 points), Providence (sixth, 22 points), Quinnipiac (seventh, 14 points) and Georgetown (eighth, seven points).
- The Lady Flames (17-3, 7-0 BIG EAST in 2023) enter the 2024 campaign having won two of the last three BIG EAST championship titles and three straight BIG EAST regular season crowns. Indiana finished with a 6-13 overall record and 0-8 Big Ten mark last year. Kent State finished 8-11 last year and posted a 5-2 MAC record.
- Liberty returns two All-BIG EAST selections from a season ago in Reagan Underwood (first team) and Martu Cian (second team). Underwood was named this year's Preseason BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team. Underwood and Cian were both NFHCA All-South Region second team honorees last year as well.
- Underwood, Cian and Ella Murphy have been named to the 2024 NFHCA Watchlist. The NFHCA Watchlist represents top collegiate student-athletes who are early contenders for this year's NFHCA All-Region and All-American teams, as nominated by their member coach.
- The Lady Flames are listed at No. 11 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason National Coaches Poll. Liberty's strong 2024 schedule features five teams who appear in the 2024 preseason rankings, including: No. 2 North Carolina (Sept. 22, home), No. 3 Virginia (Sept. 8, home), No. 5 Duke (Sept. 15, home) No. 18 Old Dominion (Sept. 20, away) and No. 20 Albany (Sept. 29, away).
- Liberty is 9-4 all-time in season openers and has won six straight season openers. The Lady Flames knocked off Kent State 2-0 in the 2023 opener.
- Liberty features 10 newcomers this season: Ella Murphy (D – Colgate transfer), Josefina Tomasi (M), Dara Semmartin (D), Mary Hazel Davis (M), Ava Murphy (M), Riley Welsch (F), Malena Magnano (F), Maddie Stevens (GK), Olivia Petrie (F) and Avery Pollock (F).
- In their first eight years in the conference, the Lady Flames sport a 51-10 BIG EAST regular mark and have made six appearances in the BIG EAST Championship title game, with two titles. Liberty has advanced to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship five times (2013, 2014, fall 2021, 2022 and 2023) and in each of the last three seasons. The Lady Flames posted a 17-3 record last year and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history.
- Liberty finished among the top 10 teams in the country in six statistical categories in 2023: goals-against-average (No. 2, 0.91), winning percentage (No. 3, .850), shutouts per game (No. 5, 0.40), assists per game (No. 9, 2.45) and save percentage (No. 10, .776).
- Kent State Field Hockey Head Coach Heather Hefner served as an assistant coach for Liberty for six seasons (2018-23). Additionally, Golden Flashes assistant coach Lizzie Hamlett played for Liberty for five seasons (2018-22) and served on staff for one year (2023). Liberty senior forward Ellie Livingston will be squaring off with her sister, Kent State sophomore forward Sophia Livingston, on Sunday. Liberty fifth-year senior Danielle Hamm played for Kent State for three seasons (2020-22) prior to joining the Lady Flames before the 2023 season.
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