Pacific Field Hockey Edged By Liberty, 2-1

The Pacific Field Hockey team were edged late by Liberty, 2-1 in the season opening match at Stanford's Varsity Field Turf. The Tigers fall to 0-1 (0-1 NorPac East) after the loss while the Flames, who captured the 2013 NorPac title, improve to 1-0 (1-0 NorPac East).

The Tigers came out firing in the first half, outshooting the Flames 8-4 in the first period, testing the Flames defense and goalkeeper Mallory Cuccio.

Liberty broke a scoreless tie with just over 15 minutes left in the first half, as Hannah Jones hammered home a goal off the rebound from a penalty corner to give Liberty a 1-0 advantage that they would take into the halftime break.

Just over ten minutes into the second period, the Tigers would strike to level the score as sophomore Ali Campos knocked in a goal off assists from junior Hannah Bettencourt and freshman Cristina Castella.

The Flames retook the lead with under nine minutes to play in the contest, as Hannah Doherty took a centering pass from Cassidy Bremner and found the back of the cage for Liberty.

Pacific controlled much of the offensive momentum in the first period, but Liberty benefited from an increased tempo and some defensive miscues from Pacific that resulted in 14 shots and nine penalty corners.

Head Coach Andy Smith said of the season opening performance,  "I thought we came out strong and were the better team in the first half. We let some of our momentum get away from us in the second half. Ultimately, it was a good performance against last year's conference champions, hopefully we start with the same intensity and get a result tomorrow night."

The Tigers will next be in action tomorrow at Stanford's Varsity Field Hockey Turf against No. 18 Delaware. The contest begins at 6:00 pm and live stats are available via PacificTigers.com.