No. 14 Lady Flames to Play Road Matches at Saint Joseph’s, JMU
9/2/2026 11:47:00 AM | Field Hockey
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The No. 14 Liberty Lady Flames field hockey team will play road matches at Saint Joseph's and James Madison, Friday and Sunday.
Liberty will face the Saint Joseph's Hawks (1-1) first on Friday afternoon. Game time is 3 p.m. from Ellen Ryan Field in Philadelphia, Pa. On Sunday, the Lady Flames take on the James Madison Dukes (0-2) at noon at the JMU Field Hockey Complex in Harrisonburg, Va.
Liberty went 1-1 last weekend up in Maine to open the 2026 campaign. The Lady Flames knocked off Maine 5-0 in a road contest, followed by a 3-2 setback to No. 15 UMass at the UMaine Field Hockey Complex.
Lady Flames News and Notes
Liberty will face the Saint Joseph's Hawks (1-1) first on Friday afternoon. Game time is 3 p.m. from Ellen Ryan Field in Philadelphia, Pa. On Sunday, the Lady Flames take on the James Madison Dukes (0-2) at noon at the JMU Field Hockey Complex in Harrisonburg, Va.
Liberty went 1-1 last weekend up in Maine to open the 2026 campaign. The Lady Flames knocked off Maine 5-0 in a road contest, followed by a 3-2 setback to No. 15 UMass at the UMaine Field Hockey Complex.
Lady Flames News and Notes
- This is the second straight year Liberty and Saint Joseph's will face each other. Last year, the Lady Flames bested the Hawks 2-1 in Lynchburg. Liberty is 3-1 all-time versus Saint Joseph's and has won each of the last three meetings. The two squads met in the 2021 NCAA Field Hockey Championship Sweet 16, a 2-0 Liberty win.
- Liberty and JMU will be matching up for the 10th time ever and for the fifth straight year. The Lady Flames hold a 5-4 series edge. In 2025, Liberty topped JMU 4-1 in its home opener at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
- Junior defender Dara Semmartin was tabbed to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Tuesday. Semmartin totaled two goals, one assist and a team-high five points in two contests last weekend.
- Senior forward Luna Prieri scored two goals on opening weekend. Prieri scored one goal each against Maine (Friday) and No. 15 UMass (Saturday), her first time scoring in back-to-back games as a Lady Flame.
- Prieri, Clarisa Iudicello, Teshawn De La Rey and Pia Iapichino each made their first two career starts for the Lady Flames last weekend. De La Rey notched her first goal in the game versus UMass, while Iapichino tallied her first career assist at Maine.
- Liberty is No. 14 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll this week. The Lady Flames have been listed among the top 15 teams in the country in every poll since the week one poll (Sept. 9, 2025) of the 2025 season. The Lady Flames were No. 8 in the preseason poll but dropped six spots in this week's top 20.
- Liberty, the defending BIG EAST champion, was picked to finish first in the league this year in the BIG EAST Field Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll. This is the fourth time in the last five years that the Lady Flames were picked to win the conference in the preseason poll.
- Junior defender Dara Semmartin was named the unanimous Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous Preseason All-BIG EAST team selection. Sophomore goalkeeper Diane Saint martin received unanimous Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year recognition as well as unanimous Preseason All-BIG EAST team distinction. Joining Semmartin and Saint Martin on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team are junior forward Josefina Tomasi and sophomore defender/midfielder Julieta Tornati.
- Liberty's 5-0 victory at Maine in the season opener was its largest margin of victory in the first game of the season since a 9-0 triumph over Kent State in 2022.
- The Lady Flames (17-3, 7-0 BIG EAST in 2025) enter the 2026 season as the defending regular season and tournament champions in the BIG EAST. Liberty has claimed three of the last five BIG EAST Championship titles and four of the past five BIG EAST regular season crowns.
- The Lady Flames return nine of 11 starters from last year's BIG EAST Championship title-winning squad. Semmartin, a NFHCA All-America second team honoree a season ago, and Saint Martin, last year's BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, lead the charge. Other returning starters include, Tomasi, Tornati, Paris-Gail Isaacs, Morena Giacosa, Mia Santana, Kyleigh Faust and Zoé Gaillard/Avery Pollock (split starting time).
- Of Liberty's 25-player roster, 10 are newcomers or transfers. Those 10 include: Clarisa Iudicello (M/F), Pia Iapichino (F), Teshawn De La Rey (M), Alexia Guedouar (M/F), Ntsopa Mokoena (F), Ashlee Bucksar (F – Delaware transfer, spent two years at Liberty in 2023 and 2024), Martu Sánchez Ros (D), Danielle Lavery (D/M), Allena Jaworski (GK) and Natalie Harrison (M/D).
- In 10 years in the BIG EAST, Liberty sports a 62-13 BIG EAST regular season mark and has made seven appearances in the BIG EAST Championship title game, with three crowns. Liberty has advanced to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship six times (2013, 2014, fall 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025) and in four of the last five seasons.
- Liberty is 1-1 through two games for the first time since the 2018 season. The Lady Flames had opened the year 2-0 for seven consecutive seasons (2019-25).
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