Lady Flames, Lancers to Meet for Big South Contest on Wednesday

The Liberty Lady Flames women's lacrosse squad will travel to Farmville, Va., for a Big South match at Longwood, Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Longwood Athletics Complex.

Liberty (2-9, 1-0 Big South) is coming off an 18-8 triumph at Presbyterian to open Big South play, this past Saturday. Longwood (5-6, 1-0 Big South) edged Radford, 19-16, in its first Big South matchup on Saturday.

Liberty will play its second Big South game of 2017 at Longwood, Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Series History
Longwood owns a 6-1 all-time advantage in the series against Liberty. However, 2016 marked the first victory for the Lady Flames over the Lancers.

On April 6, 2016, Liberty topped Longwood, 12-11, at the Liberty Lacrosse Field. Trailing 10-9 with just over seven minutes left, Callie Francis, Kayla Foster and Michaela scored goals to help lift the Lady Flames to the victory.

How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live video, via the Big South network, will be available for Wednesday's game. Find the link for the broadcast on the lacrosse schedule/result panel on LibertyFlames.com

Live stats for the contest will be available on the lacrosse schedule/results panel. Also, be sure to follow @LUGameday on Twitter for live in-game updates from Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field.

Road Trip Wraps Up
Wednesday's game at Longwood marks the final road game of a six-game road trip the Lady Flames are wrapping up.

Liberty's next home game will be on Saturday, when the Lady Flames take on Big South opponent Campbell at noon at the Liberty Lacrosse Field. The Lady Flames' last home contest was back on March 4 against Old Dominion.

Big South Opener Roundup
Nine different players scored for Liberty, leading the Lady Flames to an 18-8 victory at Presbyterian in its 2017 Big South opener, this past Saturday in Clinton, S.C.

Brianna McCaffrey (4), Abby Britton (3), Paige Britton (2), Kayla Foster (2), Hannah Quast (2) and Carly White (2) all had multiple-goal efforts in the win. Kaitlyn Cassidy-Fischetti, Grace Fletcher and Nikki Stumpf added a goal apiece in the triumph.

2017 Big South Outlook
Liberty was selected to finish fourth in the Big South Conference women's lacrosse preseason poll, while Wednesday's opponent, Longwood, was tabbed to finish fifth. In 2016, the Lady Flames finished fourth in the conference, and the Lancers placed fifth.

Sophomores Kayla Foster and Brianna McCaffrey were both named to the Big South Preseason All-Conference team. In 11 games so far in 2017, Foster and McCaffrey are both off to solid starts. Foster leads the team with 27 points (13 g, 14 a, 27 pts), while McCaffrey is the team's top goal scorer (20) and is second on the team in points with 26.

Team (first-place votes) Total Points
1. High Point (6) 62
2. Winthrop (2) 55
3. Campbell 47
4. Liberty 40
5. Longwood 36
T-6. Presbyterian 18
T-6. Radford 18
8. Gardner-Webb 12

Widrick Garners Big South Defensive Player of the Week Selection
Liberty sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Widrick was named the Big South Women's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week by the conference office, Tuesday.

Widrick made 11 saves while surrendering eight goals in an 18-8 win at Presbyterian, Saturday. The victory was Widrick's first of 2017 and second time she has reached double digits in saves this season. The Camillus, N.Y., native also scooped up a career-best nine ground balls at PC.

Lady Flames News and Notes

• Liberty is No. 10 in the country in ground balls per game (21.82) and No. 19 in the country in caused turnovers per game (11.00). The Lady Flames are third and first in the Big South in the two categories, respectively.
• The Lady Flames' 18-goal effort at Presbyterian was their highest scoring output of 2017.
• McCaffrey leads Liberty in goals (20), draw controls (42) and shots (59).
• Sophomore attacker Kayla Foster leads the team with 27 points (13 g, 14 a). Foster had 51 points (22 g, 29 a) in 2016 on her way to being named the Big South Freshman of the Year.
• Through 11 games, Liberty is slightly trailing its opponents in ground balls (251-240). Liberty senior defender Victoria Tickle paces the team with 32 ground balls and is 42nd in the country in ground balls per game (2.91) and fourth in the Big South.
• Liberty's freshmen have accounted for 33 of the 91 goals scored by the Lady Flames. Quast is first for Liberty freshmen with 11 goals, followed by Fletcher (8), White (6), Jenna Joyal (5), and Stumpf (3).
• The Lady Flames are losing the battle for draw controls, 144-130, through 11 games. However, during their last two games, Liberty has held a significant advantage in draw controls (21-13 at VCU and 19-9 at Presbyterian).
• Liberty is first in the Big South in woman-down goals per game (.50) and third in woman-up goals per game (.67).

Scouting Longwood
As a team, the Lancers are ninth in the nation in shot percentage (.481), 15th in assists per game (6.64) and 34th in ground balls per game (19.55). Individually, sophomore midfielder Stephanie Roberts is No. 25 in the country in shot percentage (.591), while freshman attacker/midfielder Molly Barkman is No. 24 in draw controls per game (5.00).

Junior goalkeeper Imani West (4-5, 14.55 GAA, 88 SV) is 37th in NCAA DI in saves per game (8.80) and 39th in total saves (88). Offensively, the Lancers feature a pair of 20-plus goal scorers in Roberts (26 g, 6 a, 32 pts) and sophomore Cassie Angeles (23 g, 3 a, 26 pts). Freshman attacker Lexi Davis is the team's top distributor with 18 assists.

Longwood is led by fifth-year head coach Elaine Jones. Jones has guided the Lancers to two top-three finishes in the Big South in her first four years in charge of the program.