No. 5 Liberty to Meet No. 12 Duke, Sunday Afternoon
3/19/2021 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Live Video: Liberty at Duke (ACC Network Extra)
Live Stats: Liberty at Duke
Liberty Field Hockey Game Day Central Page
Liberty Field Hockey Twitter
Liberty Field Hockey Instagram
Liberty Field Hockey Facebook
BIG EAST Field Hockey Home Page
No. 5 Liberty will meet No. 12 Duke, Sunday afternoon at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. Match time is set for 1 p.m.
The fifth-ranked Lady Flames are off to their best start in program history with an 8-1 overall record and 7-1 record in BIG EAST competition. On Tuesday, Liberty made school history, garnering a No. 5 national ranking in the first Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll of the season. The Lady Flames are the first top-five program in any Liberty Athletics sport at the NCAA Division I level.
Liberty split last weekend's two-game series in Philadelphia against Connecticut. Last Saturday, the Huskies, now ranked sixth in the country, edged the Lady Flames 3-2 at Temple's Howarth Field. Liberty bounced back on Sunday with a 4-0 shutout victory over UConn, its first-ever win over the Huskies.
The Blue Devils bring a 3-7 overall record into the contest. With the ACC conducting a fall field hockey season, Duke finished with a 2-7 mark. This spring, the Blue Devils are 1-0 after defeating Virginia by a 2-0 score on March 5.
This will be Duke's first non-conference game of the season. This will be Liberty's second non-conference game of the season. The Lady Flames defeated Davidson 3-1 in their only non-conference game, Feb. 14.
Attendance
Duke is beginning its spring sports seasons without fans in attendance. Only essential game personnel and broadcast will be allowed in the facilities. Fans are encouraged to watch the match on ACC Network Extra and follow live stats provided by Duke Athletics Communications.
Lady Flames News and Notes
• Liberty is No. 1 in the nation in the second RPI listing of the season, which was released this week.
• Lady Flames freshman goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. This is Irixity Irigoyen's third consecutive conference defensive player of the week honor. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native is 6-1 on the year with a 0.92 goals-against-average (No. 11 in country) .860 save percentage (No. 9 in country), 37 saves and three shutouts.
• In five weeks this season, Liberty has received 10 different BIG EAST honors and three NFHCA Division I Player of the Week awards.
• The Liberty field hockey program featured 17 student-athletes on the 2020 NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad.
• Liberty is among the top five teams in the country in six statistical categories: scoring margin (No. 2, 2.89), points per game (No. 2, 10.67), goals per game (No. 3, 3.67), scoring average (No. 3, 3.67)
• Sophomore forward Daniella Rhodes ranks first in the country in goals per game (1.44) and second in points per game (3.44). Senior forward Jill Bolton is No. 4 in the nation in goals per game (1.00), No. 8 in points per game (2.89) and No. 15 in assists per game (0.89). Sophomore defender Bethany Dykema ranks 19th in the country in assists per contest (0.67).
• Duke holds a 6-0 advantage on Liberty in the all-time series. Five of the six meetings between the two teams have been decided by one goal, with four of those contests going to overtime. In the most recent meeting (Nov. 3, 2019), No. 4 Duke edged No. 18 Liberty 3-2 in overtime at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Each of the last three games between the two teams has gone to overtime.
