No. 25 Field Hockey Travels To No. 18 Liberty For Regular-Season Finale

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 25 Providence College field hockey team will travel to Lynchburg, Va. to face No. 18 Liberty on Friday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 p.m. It marks the final regular-season match of 2019 for both squads and will finalize the seeds for the upcoming BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship. Providence and Liberty each enter Friday's match with 4-2 conference records and are tied for third in the standings. The winner of Friday's game will secure the No. 3 seed in the tournament, with the loser taking the No. 4 seed.

PROVIDENCE VS. LIBERTY
All-time series: Liberty leads series, 6-0
Last meeting: Liberty 4, Providence 0 – Nov. 2, 2018 (BIG EAST Semifinals / Lynchburg, Va.)

SCOUTING NO. 25 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE:
• Providence College enters the weekend with an 12-5 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST Conference.

• The Friars are currently ranked No. 25 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches' Poll. Providence made its season debut in the poll on Oct. 15 and have remained in the national poll at No. 25 for a third-straight week (Oct. 29).

• Providence has earned victories in seven of its last eight games, including five-straight wins heading into the weekend.

• Providence is 1-4 vs. nationally ranked opponents this season. The Friars defeated 24^th-ranked Maine, 5-4, in overtime, but have fallen to No. 13 Boston College (2-1), No. 22 Old Dominion (4-3, 2OT/SO), No. 6 Louisville (2-0) and No. 3 Connecticut (3-0).  Additionally, the Friars suffered a 2-1 setback at Fairfield on Sept. 22 and the Stags entered the national poll the following week, where they remain at No. 24 (Oct. 29).

• The Friars have played 12 unranked opponents this season and have held a 30-8 advantage in goals during those matches, including six shut-out victories.

• Fourteen players on the roster have scored at least one point, including 12 different goal scorers.

• Senior Izzy Mendez (Cedar Grove, N.J.) leads the Friars in scoring with 20 points on nine goals and two assists. Each of her offensive totals are single-season career highs. Mendez is the first player to score 20+ points in a season since Adrienne Houle '17 tallied 21 points during the 2016 campaign.

• Senior Mary O'Reilly (Longmeadow, Mass.) is second on the team in scoring with 16 points on five goals and a team-best six assists. Like Mendez, each of her offensive totals mark career highs.

• Junior Olivia Ward (Havelock North, New Zealand) and sophomore Niamh Gowing (Dublin, Ireland) have cracked double-digits in the scoring column with 10 points each. Ward owns five goals, while Gowing has chipped in four goals and two assists.

• Lydia Rice (Carle Place, N.Y.) has played 1079 minutes in the cage this season and owns a 1.22 goals against average and a 0.738 save percentage.

• Six of Rice's 10 victories this season have been shutouts. It marks the most shutouts by the team since 2009 (six), and the most shutouts by an individual goalkeeper since 2007 when Rachel Chamberlain '10 registered seven clean sheets.

• The Friars have posted a 3-1 record in overtime games this season, including a 2-1 mark in games decided by a penalty shootout.  Over the last five years, Providence has earned a 12-5 record in overtime games, including a 9-1 mark vs. BIG EAST Conference opponents. The lone blemish in OT during that span came against No. 22 Old Dominion (4-3; 2OT/SO) earlier this season on Sept. 20.

• Providence has qualified for the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship for the fourth-straight season. On a larger scope, the Friars have appeared in 10 of the last 14 tournaments.

• Liberty holds a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs, including a 2-0 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament. Three of the six meetings between Providence and Liberty have been decided by a single goal.

SCOUTING NO. 18 LIBERTY:
• Liberty enters the weekend with a 9-6 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in the BIG EAST Conference. All six losses have come against nationally-ranked opponents, including five games decided by a single goal.

• The Flames are coming off a 1-0 loss to No. 6 Virginia in their most recent game on Oct. 28.

• As a team, Liberty ranks ninth in the nation among NCAA Division I programs in goals per game (3.07) and points per game (8.47) and eighth in scoring margin (+1.72).

• Daniella Rhodes leads Liberty with 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists. She ranks 10^th in the nation and third in the BIG EAST in points per game (2.13).

• Jill Bolton is second among her teammates in scoring with 22 points on nine goals and four assists.  Three other players have reached double figures in the scoring column, including Alivia Klopp (18 points), Charlotte Vaanhold (13 points) and Mallory Fortenbaugh (12 points).

• Allison Schaefer has played 906 minutes in goal for Liberty and owns a 1.32 goals against average and a .630 save percentage to go along with six shutouts.

2019 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY AWARDS & HONORS:

Amanda Collins
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 7)

Niamh Gowing
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week (Oct. 7)
Synapse Sports Rookie of the Week (Oct. 8)

Corinne Kenney
Preseason All-BIG EAST

Izzy Mendez
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Sept. 23, Sept. 30)

Mary O'Reilly
Preseason All-BIG EAST
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Oct. 14)
Victory Sports Tours / NFHCA Division I Senior Game selection

Allyson Parker
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 22)

Lydia Rice
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 28)
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16)
Synapse Sports Division I Honor Roll (Sept. 3, Sept. 10)

Kara Sanford
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Sept. 9)

- GO FRIARS! -

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Collins

Niamh Gowing

Corinne Kenney

Izzy Mendez

Mary O'Reilly

Allyson Parker

Lydia Rice

Kara Sanford

Olivia Ward