#BIGEASTfh Minute – Top Seed, Final Spot In Play
NEW YORK – With two play dates left, three of the four spots of the 2019 BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship Presented by Jeep are reserved by Connecticut, Liberty and Old Dominion. If Connecticut defeats Liberty on Saturday, the Huskies will have locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament. Should Providence defeat Georgetown on Friday, the Friars will complete the tournament field.
Last Weekend in #BIGEASTfh
Last weekend, No. 3 Connecticut (5-0) shut out Villanova (1-4), 7-0. No. 17 Liberty (4-1) did the same to Georgetown (1-4), 4-0. No. 19 Old Dominion defeated Temple (1-4), 2-1 and No. 25 Providence (3-2) and Quinnipiac (1-4) finished regulation and two overtimes tied a 2-2. For the second time in league play for both the Friars and Bobcats, the game went to a shootout. Providence won in the shootout.
Huskies Remain Undefeated In League Action
Connecticut has won 37 consecutive regular-season conference contests, leading off this season with a 5-0 win over Quinnipiac, then defeating No. 22 Old Dominion, 6-2, in Week 2 and Temple, 5-0 in Week 3. The Huskies last loss in BIG EAST play was on Oct. 25, 2013 at Old Dominion. Connecticut lost 5-0. The Monarchs were ranked 10th nationally. The Huskies were ranked No. 4.
Four BIG EAST Teams Ranked
For the second week in a row, the BIG EAST has four teams ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). Connecticut, Liberty, Old Dominion and Providence are ranked in the same positions as last week. UConn is No. 3 , Liberty is No. 17 , Old Dominion is No. 19 and Providence remained in the rankings for the second straight week at No. 25. after being ranked 22nd for the last four weeks. No. 17 Liberty hosts No. 3 Connecticut this week in a battle of the top of the conference standings.
The Weekend Ahead
Two play dates remain in the BIG EAST field hockey regular season. Friday has three games: Quinnipiac at No. 19 Old Dominion, Georgetown at No. 25 Providence and Villanova at Temple. Saturday has a top 25 showdown between No. 3 Connecticut and No. 17 Liberty.
No. 19 Old Dominion is tied for second in the BIG EAST standings with an 8-5 overall record, 4-1 mark in the conference. Rebecca Birch leads the team with eight goals and 20 points on the season while Riley Taylor has a team-best seven assists. Erin Huffman has also been impressive on the defensive end with six goals and 13 points. Quinnipiac (3-12, 1-4) is led by Bianka Strubbe with 14 points (6G, 2A). Ines Ruiz Martinez is the assists leader with five. It is the sixth all-time meeting between the teams. ODU leads the series 4-1. Last season the Monarchs won 3-0.
Georgetown meets No. 25 Providence at 3 p.m. The Friars have the “Win and you’re in” scenario going into the afternoon as PC sits in fourth place in the standings with a 3-2 league record, 10-5 overall. The Hoyas are 5-11, 1-4 currently. Providence leads the all-time series 15-2. Last year, Providence won in a shootout, 2-1. The Friars have won five of their last six games, including three straight heading into the weekend. Izzy Mendez leads PC in scoring with 20 points on nine goals and two assists. For the Hoyas, Ellie Maransky and Lindsay Getz are tied for second in scoring with nine points.
Villanova and Temple will play at 7 p.m. at Temple, in a local conference game. Both Temple and Villanova are 1-4 in league action. The Owls are 5-8 overall, while the Wildcats are 6-8. Temple conceded just two goals last weekend despite going 0-2. Temple and Villanova are meeting for the 19th time in series history, with the Owls holding a 12-6 series advantage. Lydia Sydnor leads the Wildcats in scoring with 31 points (13G, 5A). For Temple, Dani Batze has 10 points on five goals.
On Saturday, No. 3 Connecticut travels to No. 17 Liberty for a noon showdown. UConn is coming off a shootout loss to then-No. 15 Syracuse, 1-0, last Sunday. Liberty is coming off a 3-2 loss to the No. 1 team in the country, North Carolina. Daniella Rhodes leads the Flames with 12 goals, seven assists and 31 points this season. Allison Schaefer has played every minute in goal and holds an 0.99 goals-against average and a .690 save percentage. For Connecticut, Svea Boker leads the team with 33 points (13G, 7A). Antonia Tiedtke is the assists leader with 12. In goal, Cheyenne Sprecher has a 0.68 goals against average and 75 saves for a .872 save percentage and 7.3 shutouts. Liberty’s keeper Allison Schaefer has a .99 goals against average and 29 saves for a .690 percentage. She has 6.0 shutouts this season. Last season, UConn won 6-1.
In non-league action on Sunday, Villanova hosts Davidson, Temple visits Rutgers, Providence hosts Rider, Old Dominion visits No. 1 North Carolina and Quinnipiac hosts Brown. All the games are at 1 p.m. Liberty travels to Virginia on Monday.
#BIGEASTfh Weekend Schedule
Friday, Oct. 25
QUINNIPIAC at #19 OLD DOMINION, 2 p.m.
GEORGETOWN at #25 PROVIDENCE, 3 p.m.
VILLANOVA at TEMPLE, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26
#3 CONNECTICUT at #17 LIBERTY, Noon
Sunday, Oct. 27
Davidson at VILLANOVA, Noon
TEMPLE at #18 Rutgers, 1 p.m.
Rider at #25 PROVIDENCE, 1 p.m.
#19 OLD DOMINION at #1 North Carolina, 1 p.m.
Brown at QUINNIPIAC, 1 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 28
#17 LIBERTY at #6 Virginia, 6 p.m.