NEW YORK – Connecticut and Liberty, tied atop the BIG EAST field hockey standings at 4-0, will look to keep their respective league records unblemished and clinch spots in the BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep when they host matches Friday, the customary day for a full slate of conference games.
UConn, ranked fifth nationally, hosts Villanova at 3 p.m. The Huskies, who are 11-2 overall, have not lost a BIG EAST match since 2013. One more victory assures them of one of the four spots in the BIG EAST Championship. Junior forward Antonia Tiedtke was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after recording two assists in a win over Providence and a goal in a loss to No. 5 Princeton last weekend. The Huskies have outscored their four BIG EAST opponents 22-2. Villanova goalkeeper Erika Miller is the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week after leading the Wildcats past Quinnipiac 2-1. Villanova is in a three-way tie for third place with Providence and Georgetown. All own 2-2 league records.
Liberty, ranked 19th nationally, hosts Georgetown in a game that will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) at 4 p.m. Both teams are 9-4 overall. The Hoyas want to break out of the tie for third place.
With a win, Liberty also will clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Championship. The Lady Flames are hosting the league tournament on Nov. 2 & 4. Kyle West will handle the play-by-play for Friday’s game and Hannah Jones will serve as the analyst. Brian Krieger is the producer.
Providence, the other 2-2 squad, plays at Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. After a 0-3 start, the Friars own an 8-6 record and have won five of their last six matches. Freshman forward Makayla Adams leads the Bobcats in scoring with 10 points on four goals and two assists. At 6 p.m., Old Dominion will look to end its five-game losing streak when it visits Temple. Three of those five Monarch losses have been to ranked teams (UConn, Liberty and Duke). The Owls are searching for their first BIG EAST win.
On Sunday, UConn and Liberty will travel to neutral sites to meet other ranked foes. The Huskies will take on No. 1 North Carolina in Newton, Mass., on the campus of Boston College, at 11 a.m. The Lady Flames travel to Duke’s campus in Durham, N.C., to battle No. 9 Syracuse at 2 p.m.
In other Sunday games, three BIG EAST teams are in action at noon. Temple takes the short trip to play at Drexel. Villanova hosts Longwood and Old Dominion continues its weekend road trip with a match at American. At 1 p.m., Georgetown hosts Towson and Lafayette plays at Providence. Quinnipiac visits Yale at 3 p.m.
Fourth RPI Report
The fourth NCAA RPI report through games of Oct. 8 has Connecticut remaining at No. 5 for a second straight week. Other teams in the top 30 are: Liberty (23) and Old Dominion (27). The BIG EAST ranks fifth nationally as a conference.
Tops In Stats
Through six weeks of play, the BIG EAST tops the statistical rankings in two team categories. Temple stayed first in defensive saves with 13, Connecticut is tied for first in points per game at 13.00. UConn is second in scoring average (4.38), goals per game (4.38) and scoring margin (3.00).
Individually, Quinnipiac’s Ines Ruiz-Martinez is tied for first with Temple’s Danie Batze with five defensive saves per game. Liberty’s Agueda Moroni is first with 3.85 points per game and second with 1.54 goals per game. Antonia Tiedtke of UConn is second in assists per game with an average of 1.08. Temple’s Chloe Johnson is second in saves per game at 9.08.
In The Polls
The BIG EAST continues to have three teams in the national poll. Connecticut is positioned at No. 5, followed by Liberty at No. 19 and Old Dominion at No. 25.
The BIG EAST is 9-11 (.450) against the teams ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll. Four of those wins came from Connecticut, three from Old Dominion and two from Liberty. In non-conference play, the league as a whole is 38-31 (.551).
ThIS WEEKEND
October
12 Fri. VILLANOVA at #5 CONNECTICUT 3:00
PROVIDENCE at QUINNIPIAC 3:00
GEORGETOWN at #19 LIBERTY (BEDN) 4:00
#25 OLD DOMINION at TEMPLE 6:00
14 Sun. #1 No. Carolina vs. #5 UConn (Newton, Mass) 11 a.m.
TEMPLE at Drexel Noon
#25 OLD DOMINION at American Noon
Longwood at VILLANOVA Noon
Lafayette at PROVIDENCE 1:00
Towson at GEORGETOWN 1:00
#9 Syraucse vs. #19 LIBERTY (Durham, N.C.) 2:00
QUINNIPIAC at Yale 3:00
All Times Eastern | BIG EAST games in ALL CAPS