Liberty’s women’s lacrosse team is continuing preparation in pursuit of their first conference championship in program history.
The Lady Flames set the best record in program history in 2018-19, finishing 14-5 (5-1 in ASUN). The team also ended the year ranked No. 31 in the NCAA women’s lacrosse RPI.
Kelly Nangle, coach of the Lady Flames, spoke about the team’s expectations for the upcoming season.
“The expectations are to be better than we were last year, and I think one of the coolest things about last year is that the year before, that was the best we had ever done,” Nangle said. “And last year, we did even better.”
The Flames narrowly missed out on a trip to the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship last year. While disappointed, Nangle was able to find positives that could motivate the Lady Flames moving forward. Nangle spoke about creating a schedule to maximize the team’s chances of reaching
the postseason.
“Building the schedule for this year was very important. (Liberty) and Jacksonville could both be in the top 20 at the end of the year,” Nangle said. “We want to position ourselves to still be playing in May.”
Wins against some of the top teams in women’s lacrosse could boost the program’s notoriety and increase the team’s ranking in polls.
Multiple ranked teams are in the schedule for this year. Lady Flames senior Sarah Steenson expressed her excitement at the opportunity to compete against top competition, especially Notre Dame.
“I remember our freshman year, we started (the season) with Notre Dame, so I know I’m really personally excited to go back and see the difference from them and now,” Steenson said.
With the growth of Liberty’s lacrosse team, Nangle and senior Carly White spoke about the growth of the sport as a whole. White helps coach back home and helped found a lacrosse club near her town so that players did not have to travel far away to compete and practice.
K.J. Jugar | Liberty Photography DEFENSE — Senior Molly Blake helped the team to a nation-best turnover average (15.8). Nangle addressed lacrosse’s growth and the ability for Liberty to recruit on a large scale. “We are now able to recruit nationally, and Liberty has such a niche that we’re able to get kids,” Nangle said. “We have California kids on our team. We have a girl from Colorado.” Beyond lacrosse, the team has helped the athletes to prepare for life after Liberty. “You work closely with 36 different personalities, and you’re all trying to achieve the same goal,” White said. “You all have different styles of doing that, and you have to work together.” Steenson spoke on the positive things she has experienced through being on the team. “All my major memories aren’t necessarily whether we won a game, or we did bad or whatever,” Steenson said. “All my memories I have are the little things and the individual people and that’s the best thing you can take away from the process.” The Lady Flames travel to Oregon Feb. 8 to begin the season. Nangle and the players expressed their excitement for the game and the rest of the season. “Expect big things,” White said.
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