Saturday, March 8
Lynchburg, Va.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
6-2
22
vs
13
American
3-4
1
2
3
4
F
AMERICAN
4
3
2
4
13
LIBERTY
6
7
7
2
22
Liberty Outlasts American 22-13 for Sixth Straight Win
3/8/2025 9:16:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lady Flames attackers combined for 20 goals to lift Liberty past American 22-13 at home on Saturday night. Liberty extends its winning streak to six and earns its best start to a season since the team went 11-2 in 2019.
Senior Mackenzie Lehman matched the Liberty single-game program record with a career-high seven goals along with two assists on Thursday. Liberty's four starting attackers, Lehman, Taiva Reinertson (5g, 1a), Cami Merkel (4g, 1a) and Ava Rajala (4g, 1a), recorded at least four goals and five points.
The Lady Flames jumped ahead early with a 6-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Liberty pulled away in the next 30 minutes, outscoring American 14-5 in the second and third quarters. American outscored Liberty 4-2 in the final quarter while the lead was 20-10 going into the final frame.
Liberty attempted a program-record 53 shots in the game with 37 going on goal. Lehman led all players with 13 shots. The team's previous record of 52 shots was achieved twice, most recently in a 16-4 win over Longwood on Feb. 17, 2024.
The team has recorded four straight games with at least 20 goals, with 91 scores in that span. Entering the contest, Liberty ranked No. 16 in the country with 14.86 goals per game (104 total). The last four games have all taken place at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
Liberty Goals: Mackenzie Lehman 7; Taiva Reinertson 5; Cami Merkel 4; Ava Rajala 4; Katie Colavito 1; Olivia Young 1
Liberty Assists: Mackenzie Lehman 2; Katie Colavito 1; Kendall Coss 1; Delaney Donohue 1; Cami Merkel 1; Ava Rajala 1; Taiva Reinertson 1; Olivia Young 1
American Goals: Reagan Murdoch 5; Becca Frank 4; Maddy Spratt 1; Kellie Linehan 1; Alyssa Apuzzo 1; Annabelle Jackson 1
American Assists: Maddy Spratt 4; Becca Frank 2; Kristen Hegarty 1; Kellie Linehan 1; Reagan Murdoch 1
Liberty Goalkeepers: W – Rachel Hines (6-2, five saves, 13 goals, 60:00)
American Goalkeepers: L – Caleigh Forti (3-4, 15 saves, 22 goals, 60:00)
Turning Point
The Lady Flames carried a narrow 6-4 lead into the second quarter which American's Reagan Murdoch narrowed to 6-5 (13:32). Liberty grabbed a pair of back-to-back goals, including three from Lehman. Murdoch scored her third goal of the quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7 at the 2:55 mark.
In the final three minutes of the quarter, Liberty sparked for three consecutive goals, one each from Reinertson (2:15), Lehman (2:01) and Merkel (0:28). The Lady Flames opened the second half with back-to-back goals from Lehman (11:16) and Rajala (10:15). All four starting Liberty attackers contributed to a stretch of five consecutive goals to grow the lead from 10-7 (Q2, 2:55) to a commanding 15-7 lead (Q3, 10:15).
First Half Summary
Second Half Summary
Lady Flames News & Notes
Up Next
Liberty (6-2) heads up North for spring break to take on Pitt on Wednesday. The Lady Flames are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. from Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
Senior Mackenzie Lehman matched the Liberty single-game program record with a career-high seven goals along with two assists on Thursday. Liberty's four starting attackers, Lehman, Taiva Reinertson (5g, 1a), Cami Merkel (4g, 1a) and Ava Rajala (4g, 1a), recorded at least four goals and five points.
The Lady Flames jumped ahead early with a 6-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Liberty pulled away in the next 30 minutes, outscoring American 14-5 in the second and third quarters. American outscored Liberty 4-2 in the final quarter while the lead was 20-10 going into the final frame.
Liberty attempted a program-record 53 shots in the game with 37 going on goal. Lehman led all players with 13 shots. The team's previous record of 52 shots was achieved twice, most recently in a 16-4 win over Longwood on Feb. 17, 2024.
The team has recorded four straight games with at least 20 goals, with 91 scores in that span. Entering the contest, Liberty ranked No. 16 in the country with 14.86 goals per game (104 total). The last four games have all taken place at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
Liberty Goals: Mackenzie Lehman 7; Taiva Reinertson 5; Cami Merkel 4; Ava Rajala 4; Katie Colavito 1; Olivia Young 1
Liberty Assists: Mackenzie Lehman 2; Katie Colavito 1; Kendall Coss 1; Delaney Donohue 1; Cami Merkel 1; Ava Rajala 1; Taiva Reinertson 1; Olivia Young 1
American Goals: Reagan Murdoch 5; Becca Frank 4; Maddy Spratt 1; Kellie Linehan 1; Alyssa Apuzzo 1; Annabelle Jackson 1
American Assists: Maddy Spratt 4; Becca Frank 2; Kristen Hegarty 1; Kellie Linehan 1; Reagan Murdoch 1
Liberty Goalkeepers: W – Rachel Hines (6-2, five saves, 13 goals, 60:00)
American Goalkeepers: L – Caleigh Forti (3-4, 15 saves, 22 goals, 60:00)
Turning Point
The Lady Flames carried a narrow 6-4 lead into the second quarter which American's Reagan Murdoch narrowed to 6-5 (13:32). Liberty grabbed a pair of back-to-back goals, including three from Lehman. Murdoch scored her third goal of the quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7 at the 2:55 mark.
In the final three minutes of the quarter, Liberty sparked for three consecutive goals, one each from Reinertson (2:15), Lehman (2:01) and Merkel (0:28). The Lady Flames opened the second half with back-to-back goals from Lehman (11:16) and Rajala (10:15). All four starting Liberty attackers contributed to a stretch of five consecutive goals to grow the lead from 10-7 (Q2, 2:55) to a commanding 15-7 lead (Q3, 10:15).
First Half Summary
- Liberty outscored American 13-7 on the back of 32 shots.
- In the second quarter, the Lady Flames outdrew the Eagles 8-3 and 13-9 in the first half.
- American turned the ball over 13 times compared to four from Liberty.
Second Half Summary
- The Lady Flames outscored the Eagles 9-6 in the final 30 minutes.
- Liberty scored the final three goals of the third quarter to take the lead from 17-9 (7:05) to 20-9, capped off with a goal from Lehman in the final moments of the quarter.
- Liberty went 2-of-4 in free-position attempts in the second half.
Lady Flames News & Notes
- The 2025 Liberty squad has scored more goals than any other team through eight games in program history. The 2022 Liberty Flames netted 100 goals through eight games.
- Liberty earned 21 caused turnovers on Thursday to 10 by American Burrow led all players with five caused turnovers. The defender also secured four ground balls.
- Liberty's starting attackers combined for 45 shots on Thursday to help achieve the program record.
- Attacker Ava Rajala recorded a career-high four caused turnovers and tied a career-high with four ground balls.
- Liberty narrowly outdrew American 19-18. Ava Menna led all players with 11 caused turnovers.
- The Lady Flames have outdrawn their opponents in four consecutive games.
- Liberty collected 25 ground balls to American's total of 19.
- Three Lady Flames, Burrow, Rajala and Madeleine Klunder recorded at least four ground balls.
- Liberty was a perfect 16-of-16 in clear attempts.
- The Lady Flames went 3-of-7 in free-position opportunities and held American to an 0-of-2 output. Liberty went 17-of-28 (.607) in free-position attempts in the homestand.
Up Next
Liberty (6-2) heads up North for spring break to take on Pitt on Wednesday. The Lady Flames are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. from Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
AU
LIBERTY
Shots
24
53
Turnovers
26
11
Caused Turnovers
10
21
Draw Controls
18
19
Free-Position Shots
2
7
Ground Balls
19
25
Game Leaders
G
7
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
G
5
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
4
CT
4
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
GK
/ Women's Lacrosse
D
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
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