Champs again
Field hockey wins third consecutive NorPac East title
The Lady Flames field hockey team (10-7, 4-0 NorPac) won their fourth consecutive conference game Thursday, Oct. 23 with a 5-1 victory over their Northern Pacific Conference (NorPac) rival, the Pacific Tigers, clinching the NorPac East division title.
FIND — Cassidy Bremner looks to pass against Pacific. Photo credit: Vittoria Stamoulis
For three straight years, Liberty field hockey has won the NorPac East. The Lady Flames were a perfect 4-0 in their division, solidifying a first-round bye in the NorPac tournament.
The win helped Liberty bounce back from three tough Atlantic Coast Conference losses. The Lady Flames lost 2-3 on the road at both Duke and the University of Virginia, then returned home for a tough 0-4 loss to No. 1-ranked North Carolina.
Liberty was able to get off to a good start, scoring two early goals off of penalty corners, a tactic Head Coach Jodi Murphy looked to improve this week in practice.
“We have had a lot of corners this year and haven’t been able to execute,” Murphy said. “We really made it a priority this week to practice those and be intentional with those, and it really paid off.”
Senior midfielder Helen Doolittle delivered the first goal and capitalized to score again in the second period. Doolittle, a team captain, enjoyed being able to score and contribute to the win.
“Scoring is always fun, but it was just really good to execute our corners,” Doolittle said. “Both of my goals came off of corners, and we put in a lot of time in the past week or so really getting our corners down. … Each girl played their role really well (in the game).”
As has been common for the Lady Flames this season, their goals did not come from just one source. Four different players were able to net goals for a strong Liberty performance.
Ashlee Krulock, a junior midfielder, scored in the 11th minute on an assist from Serena Barr, netting her ninth goal of the season. Krulock is second in goals and points for the Lady Flames this season.
Junior forward Sarah Gipe, who leads the team in goals and points, continued to be a force for the Lady Flames, knocking in her 14th goal of the season in the 37th minute. The goal helped Gipe set her new singleseason goal record, according to liberty.edu/flames.
The Lady Flames continued to push when, in the 44th minute, junior midfielder Natalie Barr scored her third goal of the season. Natalie Barr, one of the team’s captains, was excited to help her team get back on track.
“It was really good to get a goal,” Natalie Barr said. “It’s always good that we’re not relying on one person scoring and just a really good confidence boost for the whole team, as well as for myself.”
While Liberty did dominate for most of the game, Pacific was able to score in the 62nd minute when sophomore forward Nicole Laskosky
scored unassisted.
The Lady Flames stayed on the attack, taking the 20-7 shot advantage over Pacific. Liberty was also able to create more penalty opportunities with 10 penalty corners.
Goalkeeper Mallory Cuccio picked up four more saves, bringing her team record-breaking season total to 72. The junior also earned her 10th win of the season, tying her previous single-season win record.
The Lady Flames will host Georgetown Tuesday, Oct. 28 for their final game of the regular season. The game is set to begin at 4 p.m.
CARTER is a sports reporter.