Liberty, No. 1 UConn Set for BIG EAST Battle, Saturday
10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Liberty field hockey and No. 1 Connecticut will square off in BIG EAST action, tomorrow during Homecoming Weekend.
Saturday's matchup is slated for a 1 p.m. start at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
The Lady Flames (5-7, 3-1 BIG EAST) split a pair of contests, last weekend. They defeated Georgetown, 3-0, last Friday in Washington, D.C., before falling, 4-1, at No. 17 Maryland on Sunday.
Connecticut (13-0, 4-0 BIG EAST) is the only remaining unbeaten team in the country. The Huskies are coming off victories over Villanova (12-0 on Friday) and No. 14 Princeton (5-3 on Sunday), last weekend.
Liberty is 0-2 all-time against UConn. The Lady Flames fell, 3-2, to the Huskies in the 2016 BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship title game.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
The Liberty Flames Sports Network (LFSN) will be carrying a live video stream of the match. Live statistics, courtesy of Liberty Athletics Communications, will also be available during the contest. Find the link for the broadcast and for live statistics on the field hockey schedule page on LibertyFlames.com
Also, be sure to follow Liberty Field Hockey on Twitter (@LibertyFH) for live in-game updates from the match.
BIG EAST Update
No. 1 Connecticut is 13-0 overall and paces the conference with a 4-0 mark. Liberty, Quinnipiac and Providence each own 3-1 marks in league play to share second place. Old Dominion and Quinnipiac share fourth place at 2-2, while Georgetown and Villanova are both tied for sixth place at 1-3 in the league. Temple (0-4) is still in search of its first BIG EAST victory of the year.
Lady Flames News and Notes
- Liberty sophomore midfielder Agueda Moroni garnered inclusion on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for the third time, this season.
- Moroni is currently among the nation's leaders in goals per game (No. 5, 1.00) and points per game (No. 12, 2.33). She leads the Lady Flames in goals (12) and points (28) while sharing the team lead in assists (4) with freshman Jill Bolton and fellow sophomore Mallory Fortenbaugh.
- The Lady Flames are fourth in the conference in goals per game (2.17), fourth in assists per game (1.83) and fourth in goals-against-average (1.98).
- Sophomore goalkeeper Allison Schaefer currently has 188 career saves, needing 19 more to surpass Mallory Cuccio (206 saves, 2012-15) for the all-time program mark for career saves. Schaefer made a total of 13 saves in two matches, last weekend.
- Schaefer is 25th in the country in saves per game (5.33) and 35th in save percentage (.727) while ranking 41st in goals-against-average (1.98).
- Bolton paces Lady Flames freshmen in goals (4), assists (4), points (12) and shots (26). The Souderton, Pa., native scored her fourth goal of the year, last Sunday at No. 17 Maryland.
- Liberty opponents have outshot the Lady Flames, 159-157, this year while also holding a slight edge (63-57) in penalty corners earned.
- Liberty holds a 3-2 record in front of its home crowd, compared to a 2-5 mark away from home.
Thoughts from the Players
"This is a very important weekend for us as we take on another BIG EAST opponent. We have been working on both the attacking and defensive ends of our game and are ready to put in place this hard work against UConn on Saturday."
Senior Midfielder Alynn Richardson
Scouting Connecticut
The No. 1 Huskies are first or second in the nation in eight statistical categories: points per game (No. 1, 15.46), scoring margin (No. 1, 4.33), assists per game (No. 1, 5.31), winning percentage (No. 1, 1.000), goals per game (No. 2, 5.08), goals-against-average (No. 2, 0.68), scoring average (No. 2, 5.01) and penalty corners per game (No. 2, 9.77).
UConn is led on the attack by senior forward Charlotte Veitner (19 g, 11 a, 49 pts) and senior defender Casey Umstead (10 g, 12 a, 32 pts). Veitner is second in the nation in goals per game (1.58) and second in points per game (4.08) and has been named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I Offensive Player of the Week three times.
Redshirt senior Nina Klein (13-0, 0.89 GAA, 28 SV) will be in net for Connecticut on Saturday. Klein has seven shutouts to her credit, this year, and ranks second in the country in goals-against-average (0.69). The Huskies are coached by 28th-year head coach Nancy Stevens.