Liberty Field Hockey Head Coach Nikki Parsley has announced three captains for the 2017 season. This year's captains will be a trio of seniors – Cassidy Bremner, Alynn Richardson and Rachel Suter.
Bremner (left), Richardson (center) and Suter (right) are the three captains for the 2017 season for Liberty field hockey.
Bremner, a native of Delta, B.C., Canada, enters his senior campaign eighth all-time in program history in assists (12) and ninth in games started (54). The midfielder tallied three assists as a junior in 2016 and was named to the NorPac All-Tournament team as a freshman in 2014.
Bremner graduated with a Bachelor of Science in human resources in May and has begun her Master of Business Administration degree. She is a two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Academic Squad honoree (2014, 2016) for her work in the classroom.
"I'm really looking forward to this upcoming season and am excited for the opportunity to lead these girls. The girls, with the help of the coaches, have created such a great team dynamic that I am just lucky to be a part of," Bremner said. "I hope that we can continue to pass that down as new girls join the program. I know that our team is going to do great things this upcoming year, and I'm excited to see it unfold."
Hailing from Glendale, Mo., Richardson comes into her senior season ninth in Liberty field hockey history in goals (14) and shots (49) and 10th in points (49). Richardson, a forward, scored a career-best six goals in 18 games as a junior in 2016.
She is majoring in elementary education and has been named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad in all three of her years at Liberty (2014-16).
"It means so much to me that the team chose me as one of the three captains this year! I feel completely honored to help lead this group on the field, and in a spiritual aspect as well," Richardson stated. "Alongside Cass and Rachel, I'm super excited to press into the fall season, with our sights set on winning the BIG EAST Tournament."
A native of Millersville, Pa., Suter recorded a goal and two assists from the back line as a junior, last fall. She notched two assists on Sept. 23, 2016 against Quinnipiac, tied for the fifth-most in a game in school history. Suter also made two defensive saves as a third-year player, tied for the fourth-best output in a single season in Lady Flames history.
Suter is pursuing a bachelor's degree in family and consumer science.
"It is a great honor to be able to lead this team for my senior season. I am very fortunate to be able to do this alongside two of my fellow teammates, Cassidy and Alynn, and I am looking forward to us working as a unit to strengthen this team," Suter said. "I am very excited to see what this season will hold because I fully believe this team is capable of making some noise in the BIG EAST and the NCAA Tournament, all while maintaining our vision of spreading the word of the Lord."
Liberty
field hockey senior Serena Barr has been named to the 2017 CoSIDA
Academic All-District™ III Women's At-Large Team, as announced by the
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.
Barr has been selected to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-District™ III Women's At-Large Team.
As
a result of her inclusion on the team, Barr will now appear on the
ballot for the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® team, with the first,
second and third team All-America honorees being announced on June 8.
Barr
is the second Liberty field hockey player to be selected to the CoSIDA
Academic All-District™ at-large team, joining Helen Doolittle, who
garnered the distinction in both 2013 and 2015.
Barr, who
holds a 4.00 GPA, will graduate summa cum laude on Saturday with a
Bachelor of Science in public health. The native of Lurgan, Northern
Ireland was named the 2016 Zag Field Hockey National Field Hockey
Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I National Scholar Athlete on March
22. She was the only NCAA Division I field hockey-student athlete to
receive the honor.
Barr was also named to the Zag Sport/NFHCA
Division I National Academic Squad and Scholars of Distinction lists in
all four seasons she competed for the Liberty Lady Flames field hockey
team.
On the field, she was named to the 2016 Longstreth/NFHCA
Division I All-America second team, becoming the second All-American in
program history. As a senior, Barr guided the Lady Flames to a
runner-up finish in their inaugural season in the BIG EAST Conference in
the fall of 2016 and was voted BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year
for her efforts.
Liberty lacrosse seniors Courtney Brown and Victoria Tickle
were named to the Big South All-Tournament team on Sunday, following
the conclusion of the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship.
Brown (left) and Tickle (right) were selected to the Big South All-Tournament team.
Brown,
a midfielder, scored the final two goals of the game in No. 4 Liberty's
season-ending loss to No. 1 High Point, Friday. The native of Ladera
Ranch, Calif. also scooped up one ground ball in the contest. Brown put
together the best statistical season of her Lady Flames career as
a senior, totaling career highs in goals (18), assists (11), points
(29), shots (51), shots on goal (33), ground balls (37), draw controls
(30) and caused turnovers (18) in 19 games.
Tickle, a defender
from Fairfax, Va., recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers
against High Point on Friday. In 19 games this season, Tickle notched
career highs in both ground balls (53) and caused turnovers (27).
No.
1 seed and tournament host High Point defeated No. 2 seed Campbell,
19-5, in the title match of the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse
Championship on Sunday for its third women's lacrosse championship in
program history.
Big South All-Tournament Team Christina Del Sesto, High Point (MVP) Darla Poulin, High Point Emory Gaeng, High Point Jill Rall, High Point Melissa Placek, Campbell Kayla Reilly, Campbell Alex Salim, Campbell Katie Clark, Winthrop Katherine Judge, Winthrop Courtney Brown, Liberty Victoria Tickle, Liberty
No. 4 seed Liberty could not overcome an early 9-0 deficit, falling,
20-9, to No. 1 seed High Point in the Big South Women's Lacrosse
Championship semifinals, Friday at Vert Stadium.
The Lady
Flames finish the season with a 6-13 record, while the Panthers improve
to 14-3 overall with their 14th consecutive win. High Point will move on
to Sunday's championship game at noon, where the Panthers will face the
winner of this evening's contest between No. 2 Campbell (9-7) and No. 3
Winthrop (9-9).
Darla Poulin and Big South Offensive Player of the Year Samantha Brown paced High Point with five goals apiece, while sophomore Brianna McCaffrey netted four goals for Liberty.
High
Point seized control from the opening whistle, racing out to a 9-0 lead
in the game's first 9:02. Brown found Poulin for her first two tallies
just 22 seconds apart, with the second goal giving the Panthers a 2-0
edge with 27:05 to play in the opening stanza.
Following a
Liberty timeout, goals from the Panthers' Erica Perrotta and two tallies
from Brooke Stevens extended the home lead to 5-0. Brown scored her
49th and 50th markers of the year to push the High Point lead to 7-0
with 22:02 remaining in the half. Ashley Britton and Emory Gaeng's first
goals of the day staked the Panthers to a 9-0 advantage with 20:58 left
on the first-half clock.
Liberty's first goal of the contest
came from McCaffrey, her 37th of the year. McCaffrey created her own
fastbreak opportunity and fired a low bouncing shot past Panthers
goalkeeper Jill Rall and into the net to trim the deficit to 9-1 at the
18:07 mark.
Following Ashley Britton's second goal of the match, her sister Paige Britton,
a Lady Flames midfielder, scored from the left side of the eight-meter
arc, her 23rd of the year. The goal brought Liberty to within eight,
10-2, with 14:21 on the clock.
However, the Panthers closed
the opening frame on a 5-2 run, fueled by Brown's third and fourth goals
of the game. McCaffrey scored the Lady Flames' final two markers of the
opening half, including her third of the contest with 37.1 seconds
left. Liberty trailed, 15-4, at intermission after being outshot, 26-4.
Liberty
played High Point to an even 5-5 score in the second half while holding
a 7-5 edge in draw controls and tying the Panthers in shots, 12-12.
After Perrotta gave High Point a 12-goal lead (16-4) just 70 seconds into the second frame, McCaffrey and fellow sophomore Kayla Foster
brought the score to 16-6 with a pair of goals. McCaffrey's marker was
her 40th of the season, tied for the third-most goals in a single season
in Liberty lacrosse history. Foster's 32nd tally of 2017 came with
25:38 remaining and brought her point total for the year to 65, the
third most in a season in school history.
High Point's final
four goals of the contest came from Poulin (2), Brown (1) and Allie
Little (1). The Lady Flames' final three tallies came from the sticks of
freshman Grace Fletcher and senior Courtney Brown. Fletcher scored a free-position goal with 17:51 left to make it 17-7.
Brown's pair of goals came in the final six minutes of play. She scored the first on a feed from Kaitlyn Cassidy-Fischetti
with 5:46 left, and her second of the match (18th of the season) came
on a pass from Foster with 2:23 remaining to settle the final score at
20-9.
Liberty goalkeeper Katherine Widrick (5-8) made six saves in the first half while yielding 15 goals in the defeat. Aubrie Tarris
played the second half in net for the Lady Flames, surrendering five
goals while making four stops. Rall (13-0) was credited with the
victory. The High Point freshman made four saves against nine goals.
High
Point held advantages in shots (38-16) and ground balls (26-19) while
committing fewer turnovers (19) than Liberty (31). The visiting Lady
Flames won 16 draw controls, compared to 15 for the Panthers. Foster won
a game-high nine draw controls for Liberty, while Widrick and
Panthers midfielder Samantha Herman led their respective squads with
four ground balls apiece.
Following the conclusion of the spring season for Liberty women's
tennis, LFSN reporter Alan York had an opportunity to recap the season
with Liberty Women's Tennis Head Coach Jeff Maren.
The Lady
Flames posted a 7-1 record in the Big South, this spring, earning a
share of the conference's regular-season title for a second straight
year. Liberty's season came to an end with a 4-3 loss to No. 2 seed
Charleston Southern in the semifinals of the Big South Women's Tennis
Championship, April 22 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
2017 Spring Season Highlights
Liberty defeated Charleston Southern, 4-3, on April 14 at the Cook Tennis Center. Tied 2-2, junior Evangeline Crist and freshman Eugenia Camacho earned
three-set wins in their matches to seal the victory. The Lady Flames'
victory clinched a share of the Big South Conference's regular-season
crown for a second consecutive year. Under Head Coach Jeff Maren's
leadership, the Lady Flames are 35-9 in conference play over the past
five seasons.
Crist, a junior, and sophomore Anna Dollar
were both named to the Big South Conference Second Team All-Conference
Singles list. Crist became the fourth Lady Flame to make multiple
appearances on the all-conference singles team during her career. Crist
and Dollar's selections marked the fourth time in program history that
multiple Lady Flames have earned all-conference honors for singles.
Liberty women's tennis senior Emily Groeneveld
earned a spot on the Big South All-Academic team. The Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., native owns a 3.95 GPA at the graduate level and is obtaining her
master's degree in human services counseling: crisis response &
trauma. She posted a 3.92 undergraduate GPA and completed a bachelor's
degree in communications with emphasis on psychology and family and
child development in the spring of 2016.
The Lady Flames were well-represented in the Big South Weekly Awards, this spring. Senior Mariely Hassey
garnered Big South Women's Tennis Player of the Week selection in
back-to-back weeks (Feb. 22, March 1), while Crist claimed the award on
Feb. 8. Camacho was tabbed the Big South Women's Tennis Freshman of the
Week on April 17.
Hassey and fellow senior Groeneveld closed
out their Liberty careers with strong spring campaigns. Hassey won 15
singles matches during her final spring season, while Groeneveld won 13
singles bouts. The duo teamed up for 13 doubles triumphs, including an
8-2 mark in the No. 3 doubles flight.
Several Liberty players
made major leaps up the Liberty women's tennis program record book.
Hassey won 20 singles matches during the 2016-17 season to move into
second place all-time in school history for singles victories (69).
Crist captured 17 matches and now stands at No. 3 all-time in career
singles victories (67) with one more season to play. Crist's 19 doubles
victories bring her to 74 total, which is currently third-most in
program history. She also has the fourth-best winning percentage in
doubles (74-32, .698), followed by Dollar (45-22, .672), who won 20 more
times in doubles as a sophomore. Finally, Groeneveld finished out her
Liberty career ninth all-time in Liberty women's tennis history in
doubles wins with 49.
The Lady Flames won seven of their
final 10 matches to close out the season, including a pair of
three-match winning streaks (East Carolina, Presbyterian and
Gardner-Webb from March 24-31 and Charlotte, Campbell and Charleston
Southern from April 10-14).
On Feb. 4, Liberty faced a 3-0
deficit to East Tennessee State before rallying to win the final four
singles bouts and the match, 4-3. The early-season victory was the Lady
Flames' first-ever over the Bucs in program history. ETSU was coming off
a 20-3 season during the 2015-16 campaign.
Crist and Dollar
were tabbed the No. 7 doubles team in the Oracle/ITA Division I Regional
Rankings for the Atlantic Regional to start the new year. The pairing
won 17 times during the 2016-17 season, including eight victories in the
spring.
Liberty did not shy away from difficult competition,
as the Lady Flames faced eight opponents inside the top 75 in the ITA
rankings: No. 61 Louisville, No. 29 Wake Forest, No. 24 Tennessee, No.
67 Furman, No. 46 UCF, No. 28 Tulsa, No. 33 Maryland and No. 58
Winthrop.
With the spring season completed for the Liberty men's tennis team,
LFSN reporter Alan York had a chance to recap the season and look to the
future with Liberty Men's Tennis Head Coach Chris Johnson.
The
Flames' season concluded with a loss in the quarterfinals of the Big
South Men's Tennis Championship on April 19 to No. 1 seed and eventual
Big South champion Presbyterian.
2017 Spring Season Highlights
Flames freshman Chase Burton
was selected to the Big South Conference First Team All-Conference
Singles list. Burton's selection marks the eighth consecutive year a
Liberty men's tennis player was chosen to the all-conference singles
team. The native of Orlando, Fla., won a team-best 13 matches in the
spring, including an 8-3 mark at the No. 1 singles flight.
Burton and fellow freshman Vince Salas
were both recognized in the Big South Weekly Awards, this spring.
Burton garnered back-to-back Big South Freshman of the Week honors (Feb.
2, Feb. 8), while Salas merited selection on March 22.
Burton
finished 5-2 in Big South singles competition and won eight of his last
11 singles bouts to close out his first year in a Liberty uniform.
Liberty junior captain Diego Castano
earned a spot on the Big South All-Academic team. The Statesville,
N.C., native owns a 3.14 GPA and is majoring in business administration.
Castano won a team-best 21 doubles matches during the 2016-17 campaign
to go along with 15 singles triumphs.
After dropping their
opening match to Valparaiso on their spring break trip in Orlando, the
Flames won their next three matches on the trip. They defeated Fairleigh
Dickinson, 4-3, on March 13, followed by a pair of 6-1 victories over
Fairfield and Saint Joseph's in a doubleheader, March 15.
Liberty pulled out a narrow 4-3 victory at George Mason on Feb. 10. Locked in a 3-3 tie, Flames sophomore Max Borcuti overcame a first-set loss to win in three sets against Giuliano Buzoianu, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, and secure a Liberty victory.
The
Flames finished above .500 (30-29) in doubles during the spring. Head
coach Chris Johnson's most successful unit was Burton and Borcuti, who
posted nine against seven losses. The duo was 7-4 in the No. 3 slot in
the lineup.
The doubles tandem of Castano and sophomore Ryker Heller
won all three doubles matches they played in. The pairing prevailed
three Big South doubles contests – at Radford (April 9), at Winthrop
(April 11) and at UNC Asheville (April 13).
Liberty men's
tennis started the spring season 2-0 after collecting a pair of
victories over King and Bluefield State, Jan. 28 at Crosswhite Athletic
Club in Lynchburg. Burton and sophomore captain Eddie Gutierrez both collected two singles victories and two doubles victories apiece on that day.
Gutierrez
provided stability in the middle of the lineup for the Flames. The
sophomore captain posted an 8-6 record playing in the No. 2-4 positions
in the Liberty singles lineup.
Liberty,
the No. 4 seed in the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship,
will square off with No. 1 seed High Point in a semifinal showdown on
Friday. First draw is set for 4 p.m. at Vert Stadium in High Point, N.C.
The
Lady Flames (6-12) reached the semifinals following a 20-13 win over
Longwood, last Saturday in Lynchburg, while High Point (13-3) earned a
bye to the semifinal round. The Panthers finished 7-0 in Big South
regular-season play to receive the top seed in the tournament.
No.
2 seed Campbell (9-7) will meet No. 3 seed Winthrop (9-9) in the other
semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday evening at Vert Stadium. The
Eagles advanced to the semifinals with a 20-10 victory over No. 6 seed
Radford this past Sunday in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship title game will be held on Sunday at noon at Vert Stadium.
Series History vs. High Point
The Lady Flames are 1-6 all-time against the Panthers. Their lone win
in the series occurred on April 17, 2015, a 16-15 overtime win in
Lynchburg.
Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship History
Liberty is 3-4 all-time in the Big South Women's Lacrosse
Championship. Two of those victories came in 2015, when the Lady Flames
advanced to the title game, while the other occurred last Saturday
versus Longwood in Lynchburg.
This year's No. 1 seed, High
Point, won back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014. Winthrop, the
No. 3 seed, will be looking for its third straight title, after winning
the conference championship in 2015 and 2016.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Friday's semifinal contest will be carried live on the Big South
Network. Find the link for the broadcast on the Liberty lacrosse
schedule/results 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 updates from Vert
Stadium on Friday and for live in-game updates throughout the 2017 Big
South Women's Lacrosse Championship.
The championship match will be carried live on ESPN3 on Sunday.
Six Liberty Players Recognized by Big South The Lady Flames lacrosse program featured six seniors named to the Big South All-Conference list, last week by the conference.
Freshman Carly White was tabbed the Big South Women's Lacrosse Freshman of the Year, joining teammate Kayla Foster, who received the honor in 2016. White tallied 17 goals, eight assists and 25 points in seven league matches.
Foster and seniors Courtney Brown and Victoria Tickle were named to the Big South All-Conference second team. Sophomore Brianna McCaffrey and senior Lindsey McNamara
both received Big South All-Conference honorable mention. Finally,
Brown was chosen to the Big South All-Academic team for her efforts in
the classroom.
Lady Flames News and Notes
Liberty
is No. 3 in the country in both caused turnovers per game (12.61) and
ground balls per game (23.67). The Lady Flames are first in the Big
South in both categories.
Foster paces the squad in assists
(32, No. 32 in nation) and points (63). She is tied for fourth in the
conference in assists per game (1.82). Foster (114 career points) is
tied for fifth place in program history in career points. The sophomore
is also the all-time program leader in assists (61) and needs just two
assists to break the single-season mark for a Liberty player (Morgan
Becker, 33 in 2015).
Sophomore midfielder Brianna McCaffrey
leads Liberty in goals (36), draw controls (77) and shots (116).
McCaffrey is fifth in the conference and 40th nationally in draw
controls per game (4.28) and tied for first in the conference in shots
per game (6.44).
Foster and McCaffrey both set new career highs with five goals apiece in last Saturday's 20-13 victory over Longwood.
Liberty senior defender Victoria Tickle
paces the team with 50 ground balls and is 39th in DI in ground balls
per game (2.78) and third in the Big South. Tickle is seventh all-time
in program history with 99 ground balls and seventh in caused turnovers
(55).
Sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Widrick
places fourth in the Big South in goals-against average (12.99) and
fourth in save percentage (.384). She has 99 saves this season and is
third all-time in Liberty lacrosse history with 191 saves.
Freshmen
have been key contributors for the Lady Flames, this spring. Carly
White paces the first-year group with 25 goals and 43 points, while
Grace Fletcher (18) Hannah Quast (11), Jenna Joyal
(9) and Nikki Stumpf (5) have all made their marks as first-year
players. White, the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse Freshman of the
Year, has 36 points in her last six contests, including a pair of
seven-point performances during her last two games.
Scouting High Point
The Panthers enter the Big South Women's Lacrosse Championship riding
the nation's second-longest winning streak, 13 games. High Point topped
Liberty, 25-7, on April 15 in Lynchburg. High Point ranks fifth in the
nation in caused turnovers per game (12.44) and assists (8.06), sixth in
points per game (23.56) and shots per game (35.75), ninth in scoring
offense (15.50) 10th in scoring margin (5.75) and 12th in ground balls
per game (21.63).
Offensively, Big South Women's Lacrosse
Offensive Player of the Year Samantha Brown (48 g, 18 g, 66 pts) leads
the attack, while Brooke Stevens (34 g, 26 a, 60 pts) and Darla Poulin
(41 g, 17 a, 58 pts) will warrant the attention of the Liberty defense.
Big
South Women's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year Christina Del Sesto
(34 gb, 25 ct, 18 dc) anchors the Panthers' defense, while Erica
Perrotta (30 g, 22 a, 52 pts, 38 gb, 28 ct) contributes both defensively
and on the attack for High Point.
Goalkeeper Jill Rall brings
an untarnished 12-0 mark into the 2017 Big South Women's Lacrosse
Championship. The freshman is first in the Big South in goals-against
average (8.09) by nearly four goals per game and is second in the
conference in save percentage (.407).
How Liberty Stacks Up Against the Remaining Big South Teams in the Championship No. 2 Campbell
The Camels are known for their prowess in the draw circle and for
limiting turnovers. Campbell wins 14.88 draw controls per game, good for
12th-best in the country. The Camels only commit 15.81 turnovers per
game, which is 27th fewest in DI.
In the two teams'
regular-season matchup, Liberty took an 11-10 lead on a White goal with
56.5 ticks remaining on April 8, before Campbell scored the equalizer
with 27 seconds left and eventual overtime winner 2:07 into the extra
session for a 12-11 victory.
Key offensive players: Kayla
Reilly (26 g, 38 a, 64 pts), Melissa Placek (42 g, 11 a, 53 pts),
Mackenzie Koeller (34 g, 9 a, 43 pts) Key defensive players: Amanda Chasin (30 gb, 14 ct), Erin O'Hara (23 gb, 11 ct) Goalkeeper: Merredith Bechler: (8-5, 12.31 GAA, 109 SV, .394 SV Pct.) No. 3 Winthrop
Winthrop, the two-time defending Big South Champion, is currently on a
six-match winning streak. The Eagles defeated the Lady Flames, 18-13,
April 22 at Eagle Stadium in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Eagles boast
one of the top scorers in the nation in Nicole Beatson. Beatson is 16th
in the nation with 56 goals and sixth with 88 points while ranking No. 1
in free-position percentage (.778). Winthrop was 9-of-11 in
free-position shots against Liberty in the regular-season meeting.
