Liberty University
(7-1, 6-1BIG EAST)
Connecticut
(4-0, 3-0BIG EAST)
UConn Hands Liberty First Loss, 3-2 on Saturday
3/13/2021 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Liberty suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Connecticut on Saturday afternoon by a 3-2 score at Temple's Howarth Field.
The Lady Flames drop to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in BIG EAST play. UConn improves to 4-0 on the year and 3-0 in conference.
Jessica Dembrowski scored two goals for the Huskies. Liberty's Mackinzie Thompson scored her first career goal in the game. The Lady Flames' Daniella Rhodes tallied her 12th goal of the season.
Scoring Summary
2' – UCONN – Jessica Dembrowski (Aiyi Young)
17' – UCONN – Claire Jandewerth | Penalty Stroke
39' – LIBERTY – Mackinzie Thompson (Jill Bolton) | Penalty Corner
57' – UCONN – Jessica Dembrowski (Vivienne Tucker)
60' – LIBERTY – Daniella Rhodes (Bethany Dykema and Kendra Jones) | Penalty Corner
Goalkeepers
W: Cheyenne Sprecher 4-0, eight saves
L: Azul Iritxity Irigoyen 5-1, nine saves
Turning Point
Connecticut struck for the first goal of the game 1:41 into the game. Dembrowski lifted a shot into the top of the cage, her third goal of the season, for a 1-0 Huskies advantage. The Huskies outshot the Lady Flames 7-3 in the opening quarter, but goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen kept Liberty within a goal with four saves in the opening 15 minutes. UConn extended the lead to two goals early in the second quarter (16:03) on a Claire Jandewerth penalty stroke conversion.
Trailing 2-0 in the third quarter, Thompson of Liberty scored her first career goal on a tip from in front of the cage on a penalty corner at 38:43 to get the Lady Flames within one, 2-1. However, Liberty received a green card and two yellow cards in the final 20 minutes. As a result, the Lady Flames had to play shorthanded for 12 of the final 20 minutes.
UConn capitalized on Liberty's final yellow card, with Dembrowski scoring her second of the day and fourth of the season in the 57th minute for a 3-1 advantage. The Lady Flames closed the gap to one (3-2) again with a Rhodes penalty corner marker with 33 seconds left on the clock but could not get the equalizer in the closing seconds.
Key Stats & Notes
• UConn outshot Liberty 19-11 and held a 12-5 advantage in penalty corners. The Huskies drew four penalty corners in the first period and seven in the fourth period.
• The Lady Flames' Irixity Irigoyen made a season-best nine saves in the contest. The Huskies' Sprecher recoded eight saves in the match.
• Senior Kendra Jones and sophomore Jodie Conolly paced Liberty with three shots each.
• Saturday marked the first time Liberty surrendered more than one goal in a game this season.
• The Lady Flames' 7-0 start prior to today's setback was their best start to a season in program history.
• UConn improves to 8-0 all-time against Liberty.
• Today's contest was the second time the Lady Flames and Huskies have played at Howarth Field. In both instances (other: 2016 BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship title game), the final score was 3-2 in favor of UConn.
Up Next
Liberty and UConn will face off in game two of the series, tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Howarth Field. The game will be streamed on YouTube.
Game 2 Live Video | Game 2 Live Stats
Team Stats
Dembrowski, Jessica (3)
Assisted By: Young, Aiyi
Scored on shot into top of cage
1:41
Jandewerth, Claire (3)
UCONN Jandewerth, Claire PENALTY STROKE GOAL, goal number 3 for season.
16:03
THOMPSON, Mackinzie (1)
Assisted By: BOLTON, Jill
Tip into lower right corner
38:43
Dembrowski, Jessica (4)
Assisted By: Tucker, Vivienne
Scored from in front off feed from 28
56:44
RHODES, Daniella (12)
Assisted By: DYKEMA, Bethany , JONES, Kendra
Scored on corner into left side
59:27
