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THE BASICS
Score: No. 17 Liberty 7, Ohio 1
Records: Ohio (2-3), No. 17 Liberty (5-0)
Location: Athens, Ohio (Pruitt Field)
Short Story: The Ohio field hockey team (2-3) could not overcome a 5-0 first-half deficit, falling to No. 17 Liberty (5-0), 7-1, on Friday (Sept. 11) at Pruitt Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Lady Flames Flames outshot the Bobcats, 26-9 -- including 16-3 in the first half.
• Liberty also won the corner battle, holding an 8-2 edge over Ohio.
• Freshman Kendall Ballard (Charlottesville, Va.) tallied the lone goal for the Bobcats while leading the team with two shots on goal.
• Sophomore Elena Curley (Louisvile, Ky.) led the Bobcats with four shots while putting one on goal. Her season total now stands at a team-high 10. Senior Clarissa Leickly (Gahanna, Ohio) also put a shot on goal.
• Redshirt junior goalkeeper Lina Trucco (Lake Bluff, Ill.) made a match-high 11 saves but surrendered four goals in 35 minutes in the cage for the Bobcats. Her season saves total increased to 28.
• Freshman goalkeeper Alex Pennington (Easton, Pa.) made her second career appearance in goal for Ohio, playing the second half and notching a career-high five saves while allowing two goals.
• The Lady Flames were powered by a hat trick from senior forward/midfielder Natalie Barr, who recorded a match-high four shots on goal. She's now tallied five goals on the season.
• Senior defender Hannah Jones, senior forward midfielder Ashlee Krulock, senior midfielder/forward Hannah Doherty and sophomore forward Allyn Richardson accounted for the four other goals for Liberty. Krulock's season goal total now stands at five while Doherty and Richardson each tallied their first goals of the year.
• Freshman forward Abby Julius racked up two assists, while sophomore midfielder Rachel Suter, senior forward Sarah Gipe and junior midfielder Bethany Barr each tallied one for the Lady Flames. Julius posted her first two helpers of the season, and Suter, Gipe and Barr each tallied their first assists of the year.
• Junior defender/midfielder Serena Barr totaled a match high six shots -- including five shots on goal -- to lead the Lady Flames. She has now registered a team-high 21 shots on the season -- including 11 on goal. Bethany Barr recorded three shots on goal, while Richardson recorded two. Bethany Barr now has 11 shots on goal to her name on the season, and Richardson increased her total to four. 
• Senior Mallory Cuccio spent 52:37 in goal for the Lady Flames, shutting out the Bobcats while registering two saves. She's registered 20 saves on the season for Liberty.
• Freshman Erin Bradshaw was in the cage for the final 17:33 for Liberty, making one save while allowing one goal in her first career appearance.
• The Lady Flames opened up the scoring in the second minute, as Krulock snuck a backhanded shot past Trucco into the bottom right corner of the cage.
• Natalie Barr redirected a pass from the left side by Julius in the 22nd minute to increase the Liberty lead to 2-0.
• Two minutes later, Natalie Barr scored her second goal of the contest for the Lady Flames, burying a pass from Gipe from the left side.
• In the 27th minute, Liberty added another as Jones buried a penalty stroke opportunity.
• Liberty then capitalized on a penalty corner opportunity, as Serena Barr gathered the corner and sent it from the right side to Doherty, who sent a shot to the back of the cage in the 34th minute.
• The Lady Flames scored in the 38th minute with Natalie Barr scoring her third goal of the evening from the middle of the circle off a pass from Julius.
• Richardson deflected a pass across the middle by Bethany Barr to give the Lady Flames a 7-0 lead in the 47th minute.
• Ohio broke through in the 67th minute when Ballard buried a rebound off of a penalty corner chance.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ballard’s goal was the first of her Bobcat career. 
• Trucco’s 11 saves marked a career high.

QUOTABLE
"We had nine shots total, so we did a good job getting down the other end of the field and creating small opportunties. They're a good side. They're physical, and they knocked us off the ball, and we just didn't match that physicality." - 11th-year head coach Neil Macmillan

UP NEXT
Ohio closes out the weekend homestand at Pruitt Field with a match against Appalachian State on Sunday (Sept. 13) at 1 p.m. ET.

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