Liberty, VCU Set for Saturday Afternoon Lacrosse Game

The Liberty women's lacrosse team will travel to Richmond, Va., to play at in-state foe VCU, Saturday afternoon. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at Cary Street Field.

The Lady Flames (1-8) enter Saturday's contest looking for their second win of 2017, while the Rams (3-4) will be looking to get to .500 on the season.

Liberty senior defender Victoria Tickle leads the squad with 28 ground balls and is 35th in the country in ground balls per game (3.11).

The two programs met for the first time on Feb. 24, 2016, in Lynchburg. The Lady Flames defeated the Rams, 19-9. Abby Britton led the squad with four goals in that game.

How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live stats for the contest are also available on the lacrosse schedule/results panel. Also, be sure to follow @LUGameday on Twitter for live in-game updates.

Back Half of Road Trip
The Lady Flames are in the second half of a six-game road trip. Following Saturday's game Liberty will travel to Presbyterian for its Big South opener, next Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lady Flames will wrap up their road trip with a Big South game at Longwood on April 5.

Liberty's next home game will be on April 8, when the Lady Flames take on Big South opponent Campbell at noon at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.

Widrick Moves Up
Liberty sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Widrick needed three saves on Wednesday night at William & Mary to move into third place all-time in program history in saves. Widrick made 12 stops to get to 134 career saves in the contest and now sits alone in third place.

Widrick has logged 329:07 in goal and made 42 saves. Her 12.76 goals-against average is fourth in the Big South.

Lady Flames News and Notes

• As a team, Liberty is No. 19 in the country in ground balls per game (21.11) and No. 15 in the country in caused turnovers per game (11.33).
• Brianna McCaffrey leads Liberty in goals (13), draw controls (30) and shots (40). She is also No. 51 in the nation in free position percentage (.545).
• Sophomore attacker Kayla Foster leads the team with 19 pts (9 g, 10 a). Foster had 51 points (22 g, 29 a) as a freshman in 2016 on her way to being named the Big South Freshman of the Year.
• Through nine games, Liberty is slightly trailing its opponents in ground balls (192-190). Liberty senior defender Tickle leads the squad with 28 ground balls and is 35th in the country in ground balls per game (3.11).
• Liberty's freshmen have accounted for 23 of the 61 goals scored by the Lady Flames. Hannah Quast paces Liberty freshmen with nine goals.
• Liberty is first in the Big South in woman-down goals per game (.22) and third in woman-up goals per game (.67).
• Freshman Grace Fletcher is the team's most accurate shooter with a .909 shots on goal percentage.
• Liberty's opponents have outshot the Lady Flames, 276-174.
• The Lady Flames are losing the battle for draw controls, 122-90, through nine games.

Scouting VCU
With three wins so far this spring, the Rams have already equaled their win total from 2016, when they went 3-14. VCU has defeated Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Central Michigan, so far.

Their offense is paced by sophomore attacker Molly Barcikowski (19 g, 6 a, 25 pts) and redshirt sophomore midfielder Sky Hyatt (14 g, 3 a, 17 pts). Hyatt is 13th in NCAA DI in caused turnovers per game (2.43) and 55th in ground balls per game (2.86). Goalkeeping duties will likely be done by sophomore Ria Peralta (3-4, 12.94 GAA, 67 SV). Peralta is No. 23 in the country in saves per game, No. 41 in total saves (67) and No. 41 in save percentage (.450).

The Rams are coached by Jen O'Brien, who is the first coach in program history. VCU began NCAA Division I competition during the 2015-16 academic year.