Lady Flames defeat Providence in semi-final game

As the rain came down on Liberty Field Hockey Field Friday afternoon, so did the goals. 

Connecticut beat Villanova 9-1 in the first Big East Tournament semifinal. Then, the rain came and so did the Liberty Lady Flames offense against
Providence.

Senior forward Moniek van Aarle got Liberty on the board early, scoring less than four minutes in on a corner. Then, on their third corner attempt of the game, freshman forward Charlotte Vaanhold scored on the assist from Jill Bolton at the 14:45 mark in the first half. Less than two minutes later freshman forward Alivia Klopp scored off another penalty corner to give the Lady Flames a 3-0 lead.

Liberty entered halftime with that lead, and they did not look back. Stingy defense and a late goal scored by freshman forward Kemy Meidane gave the Lady Flames a 4-0 win and set up a matchup in the Big East championship game against Connecticut.

“I’m just excited,” Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker said. “We’re just talking in recap and in the locker room. It seems normal to go to a conference championship three years in a row, but it’s not and it takes a lot, a lot of hard work to get there so I’m so incredibly proud of the kids. Just from last November until now, we’ve talked about the pieces we needed to put together and it’s exciting to get back.”

This is the third year in a row Liberty and Connecticut have faced off in the Big East Championship. The winner of the game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament while the loser will have to await the at-large bid announcements.

“Everyone is really excited,” Van Aarle said. “We’re just ready to play UConn again and this is gonna be the time that we’re gonna beat them.”

This is the confidence the Lady Flames are bringing into the championship game. They are looking to get an automatic bid and make the NCAA Field Hockey tournament for the first time since 2014, and the first time since they joined the Big East conference.

“It’s so exciting,” junior goalkeeper Allison Schaefer said. “It’s something that you worked for all year and you come out every day and you practice hard and you run, you do all the drills; you do the game plan the coaches give to you. Just to come out and to be going to the championship again is just so, so excited. I can’t wait.”

The Lady Flames, who are carrying in a 13-5 record to the championship game, have fought hard in every game this year. Three of their five losses were by five goals, and four of the losses this year were to ranked teams. They have worked hard in every game and it has paid off for them.

This year Liberty has also taken it to a whole new level. Since joining the Big East in 2016, they won only eight games in each of their first two years in the conference. However, this year they got to the 13-win mark and looked to get to the 14-win mark Sunday against Connecticut.