Liberty University
(9-3)
No. 13 Delaware
(11-3)
Lady Flames Light up Scoreboard at Delaware
10/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
The No. 12 Liberty field hockey squad tallied six marks, five in the second half, against the No. 13 Delaware Blue Hens on Sunday afternoon in Newark, Del. The Lady Flames avenged a 1-0 NCAA Tournament loss from two years ago with a 6-2 victory today.
With the win, Liberty improves to 9-3 on the season while Delaware slipped to 11-3 for the campaign.
The Lady Flames jumped on the board in the first four minutes when freshman Abby Julius notched her second goal of the season. Sarah Gipe found Julius on the right side of the circle as the Pennsylvania native dribbled in untouched. Julius fired a shot that ricocheted off the post and into the back of the net to give Liberty the 1-0 advantage.
After controlling the remaining minutes of the first stanza, Delaware notched the equalizer with just 26 seconds remaining before intermission. Meghan Winesett recorded her seventh goal of the season to even the contest at one apiece.
Liberty came out of the locker with tenacity and a goal in mind as the Lady Flames reclaimed the lead in the 40th minute, Natalie Barr's 12th goal of the campaign. Barr flung the ball across the front of the frame as it deflected off the Delaware defender to give Liberty the 2-1 advantage.
Less than 40 seconds later the Lady Flames doubled their lead off Ashlee's Krulock's first goal of the contest. Gipe passed the ball into the circle when Krulock tipped the ball between her legs past the outstretched arms of the Blue Hen keeper. Krulock found the back of the net 53 seconds later for her 10th goal of the season and second of the contest. The Pennsylvania native's second strike was set up by Hannah Jones who zipped the ball to Krulock from the 25-yard line. Krulock took one dribble out and whirled a shot into the bottom right corner of the frame to extend Liberty's lead to 4-1.
Delaware responded in the 44th minute when Taylor Lister connected on her third goal of the season to cut the Lady Flames' lead to two.
The Lady Flames' offense did not let up when Gipe extended the lead back to three in the 51st minute. Sophomore Cassidy Bremner dribbled the ball to the right side of the circle and threw the pass across the middle of the net. Gipe positioned herself to receive the ball and redirected the pass into the back of the net for her seventh goal of the season.
Liberty's final mark of the contest came in the 69th minute off the penalty corner. Hannah Jones inserted the ball to Serena Barr who dished the pass back to the corner where Jones stood waiting to capitalize on her fourth goal of the season. Jones tipped the ball in to add icing to the cake, giving Liberty the four-goal victory, 6-2.
Despite holding a four-goal advantage, the Lady Flames were outshot 13-12 for the duration of the contest. However, Liberty tallied nine shots in the second half, five of which found the back of the net.
Delaware also forced seven attacking penalty corners while Liberty was able to tally five short corners.
Mallory Cuccio notched five saves during the contest, bringing her season total to 53 and improving her record to 9-3 on the season. Cuccio's first save came in the second minute, giving her 179 career saves at the time and propelling the Colorado native into the record books as she passed Ann Jefferis for the most career saves in program history. Cuccio now has 183 career saves following Sunday's outing.
The Lady Flames return to action on Thursday at 4 p.m. when they host current No. 5 Virginia. The two squads met last season in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 17 as the then No. 6 Cavaliers erased a two-goal deficit late in the game to force overtime. Virginia then scored the game-winner to down the upset-minded Lady Flames.
Team Stats
JULIUS, Abby (2)
Assisted By: GIPE, Sarah
shot from right side
3:38
Winesett, Meghan (7)
off the rebound
34:34
BARR, Natalie (12)
GOAL by LIBERTY BARR, Natalie, goal number 12 for season.
39:29
KRULOCK, Ashlee (9)
Assisted By: GIPE, Sarah
GOAL by LIBERTY KRULOCK, Ashlee, Assist by GIPE, Sarah, goal number 9 for season.
40:06
KRULOCK, Ashlee (10)
Assisted By: JONES, Hannah
deflected in
40:59
Lister, Taylor (3)
Assisted By: Patzner, Michaela
off the rebound
43:39
GIPE, Sarah (7)
Assisted By: BREMNER, Cassidy
GOAL by LIBERTY GIPE, Sarah, Assist by BREMNER, Cassidy, goal number 7 for season.
50:48
JONES, Hannah (4)
Assisted By: BARR, Serena
tip in after corner
68:02
