No. 11 Liberty to Face No. 19 ODU, No. 2 UNC Over Weekend

LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 11 Liberty will face a pair of ranked teams this weekend in No. 19 Old Dominion and No. 2 North Carolina.

Liberty's matchup with No. 19 Old Dominion (4-2) will be the 2024 BIG EAST opener for both teams on Friday afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va.

On Sunday, the Lady Flames will return home to face No. 2 North Carolina (4-0) at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. That match will begin at noon. Both matchups this weekend can be seen on ESPN+.

Liberty is coming off two home victories last weekend, a 5-0 triumph over William & Mary and 1-0 victory against No. 4 Duke. ODU is looking to bounce back from a pair of home setbacks to No. 4 Duke (2-0 final) and No. 8 Ohio State (2-1 final). UNC, the 2023 national champion, has not played since Sept. 8 (2-0 win over No. 15 Princeton) and will face No. 15 Syracuse at home on Friday prior to traveling to Lynchburg.

Lady Flames News and Notes

Liberty goalkeeper Michaela Skinner earned NFHCA Division I Defensive Player of the Week honors on Wednesday. It is Skinner's first national player of the week record. The redshirt sophomore posted a 2-0 record, 0.00 goals-against-average, five saves and two shutouts last weekend.
Skinner was also named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, and junior forward Lou Combrinck earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week recognition. Combrinck tallied two goals, two assists and six points in the wins over No. 4 Duke and William & Mary. She scored the game-winning goal against the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter, Sunday.
This will be the 19th all-time meeting between Liberty and ODU. The Lady Flames are 10-8 all-time versus the Monarchs. Last year, Liberty bested ODU 2-0 in the regular season matchup before falling 3-1 to ODU in the 2023 BIG EAST Championship title game.
This is the second straight year the Lady Flames and Monarchs will meet in the first BIG EAST game of the year for both teams. Liberty is 8-0 all-time in BIG EAST openers, including a 3-0 road mark.
Liberty was 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. Old Dominion was selected to finish second in the preseason poll. Reagan Underwood was named this year's Preseason BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.
This will be the 11th all-time meeting between Liberty and North Carolina. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 8-2. In last year's matchup, the Lady Flames earned a 2-1 double overtime road victory at UNC. Martu Cian scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute to give Liberty the victory over No. 1-ranked UNC. The win was the Lady Flames' second ever over a No. 1 team.
Liberty ranks among the top 15 teams in the nation in goals-against-average (No. 9, 0.76), shutouts per game (No. 10, 0.40) and scoring margin (No. 12, 1.71).
Skinner is currently No. 9 in the country in goals-against-average (0.76) and No. 13 in save percentage (.778). She leads the BIG EAST in both categories. Senior forward Martu Cian is 28th nationally in goals per game (0.80).
No. 11 Liberty is one of three top-20 teams from the BIG EAST Conference. Connecticut (5-1) is ranked 14th, and Old Dominion (4-0) is currently listed at No. 19 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The Lady Flames have not been listed lower than No. 12 in the national poll so far in 2024.
ODU and UNC will be the third and fourth top-20 opponents Liberty will face already in the first seven games of the season. The Tar Heels will be the third top-five opponent for the Lady Flames (other: No. 3 Virginia and No. 4 Duke).

Schedule

No. 11 Liberty to Face No. 19 ODU, No. 2 UNC Over Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Martu Cian

Lou Combrinck

Michaela Skinner

Reagan Underwood