On Sunday, Liberty fell behind 3-0 at home to George Mason, but that deficit wasn’t enough to put out the Flames on a rain-soaked afternoon from Osborne Stadium. The Lady Flames rattled off four unanswered goals in quick succession in the second half to pull out the 4-3 win, securing the program’s first ever three-goal deficit comeback win.
Liberty gave up two early goals in the opening 10 minutes of the match and then a third goal in the first minute of the second half to the visiting Patriots. Through persistent rain, Liberty responded with four consecutive scores in 25 minutes.
The home team finally broke through in the 47th minute from a deep ball from Avenley Monteith. The midfielder lofted a shot, catching the backpedaling Patriot goalkeeper off balance, coming in just under the crossbar for her second goal of the season.
Minutes later, the lead was trimmed down to one off the foot of Isabella Wedemeyer. In the 51st minute, Halle sent a low cross through the penalty area, finding Monteith, who unleashed a shot from a weak angle. Her shot deflected off a George Mason defender, bouncing directly to Wedemeyer with her shot finding space between three challenging Patriots.
The equalizer was found in the 58th minute by Haley Noblit with her first goal of the season. She received the ball in the attacking area and looked up to see a 1v1 opportunity. After a few moves, she pushed the ball to the middle of the field, blasting her shot straight ahead to tie the game with over 30 minutes remaining.
Liberty continued to press, looking to take the lead. Margaret Garner pushed the ball deep into the field, sending a low cross to Keelyn Eslinger. The sophomore sent a shot to the center of the net, just past the stretched goalkeeper to gain the lead that would not be relinquished.
Earlier in the week, Liberty stifled William & Mary for a 2-0 road shutout win on Thursday in Williamsburg. Halle Engle and Margaret Garner scored second half goals to lift Liberty to the win. Liberty held William & Mary without a shot on goal in the contest, holding them to just three total shots in the 90 minutes in the first meeting between the programs since 2019.
The Lady Flames conclude their tour against in-state opponents this week in taking on James Madison and Old Dominion in the final week of non-conference play before CUSA play begins September 26. At 5-2-1 on the season, Liberty takes on JMU at Thursday at 6 p.m. from Osborne Stadium. On Sunday, the Lady Flames host Old Dominion at Osborne Stadium at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
An update on the rest of Liberty’s fall sports from around campus:
FIELD HOCKEY (3-1, 0-0 Big East)
Liberty turned in a dominant performance in Friday’s road non-conference matchup, defeating Saint Joe’s 5-1 in Philadelphia. The Lady Flames’ leading goal scorer, Luna Prieri, scored her third of the season. Freshman Pia Iapichino and Clarisa Iudicello notched their first career goals, while Zoe Gaillard and Julieta Tornati each scored goals as well.
Gaillard started the scoring at the 7:14 mark, sending a ball off a defender and into the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead. With just over a minute left in the first period, the Lady Flames earned their fourth penalty corner and converted to make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second frame, Liberty stretched the lead to 3-0 as Julieta Tornati struck on a penalty corner. Saint Joseph’s scored two minutes later for their lone goal of the contest. Liberty’s fourth game came at the 41:03 Mark from Pia Iapichino. Clarisa Iudicello notched her first career goals at the 55:22 mark.
On Sunday, Josefina Tomasi’s goal in overtime lifted No. 14 Liberty past James Madison 2-1 in Harrisonburg. Tomasi’s first goal of 2026 came via a penalty corner feed from Julieta Tornati. Tomasi’s redirect from in front of the cage zipped past the JMU goalkeeper at the 70:40 mark to secure the road victory.
Liberty outshoot JMU 9-2 in the first half and led in penalty corners 5-0, but did not get on the scoreboard until breaking through in the 42nd minute. Dara Semmartin set up Julieta Tornati’s goal with Tornati flicking a shot off the inside of the left post and into the cage for her third goal of the year.
JMU knotted the score at 1 early in the fourth quarter. In overtime, the two teams each earned a penalty corner but could not convert. It was the Lady Flames’ second corner of the frame that netted the game winner from Josefina Tomasi.
Liberty outshoot the Dukes, 19-8, with a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Lady Flames take a 6-4 lead in the all-time series. Liberty has bested JMU in consecutive years.
Liberty caps off a 2-0 road weekend while boosting its overall record to 3-1 with all four games being played away from home. This week, the Flames have two more in-state contests while opening up the home portion of their schedule. Liberty hosts Virginia on Friday at 5 p.m. before hosting Longwood on Sunday at 1 p.m.
MEN’S SOCCER (2-2-1, 0-0 SOCON)
Liberty and Georgia Southern played to a 1-1 tie in Statesboro on Wednesday evening. Liberty’s Samson Kpardeh scored during the 70th minute to give Liberty a 1-0 lead, only to see host Georgia State knot the contest in the 80th minute.
In the waning seconds of the game, a clearing attempt by an Eagle defender deflected off Flames midfielder Ronnie Gorman and went into the goal. However, the ball crossed the goal line after time ran out, ending the game in a draw.
Liberty outshot Georgia Southern, 17-7, and 4-2 in shots on goal. Kpardeh scored his team leading fifth goal of the season.
On Sunday, the Flames got back into the win column with a 2-1 win at American in Washington, DC. After giving up a goal in the ninth minute, Liberty shut down the American attack and scored two unanswered goals in the road victory.
Ronnie Gorman knotted the game in the 19th minute, as the game went to halftime tied at 1. After a video review showed a foul in the 18-yard box early in the second half by American, Samson Kpardeh converted the penalty kick to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. Using solid defense, Liberty limited the American offense over the final 40 minutes to secure the win.
Kpardeh scored his team leading sixth goal of the season. He has scored a goal in all five Liberty games this season. He leads the SoCon in goals and entered Sunday’s contest tied for third in the nation in goals.
Liberty plays at Virginia on Saturday at 6 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL (3-3, 0-0 CUSA)
It was a difficult week for Liberty volleyball, dropping two of three matchups.
It began on Tuesday in Charlottesville where Liberty took set one from Virginia before the Cavaliers rallied to win the next three sets for a 3-1 win over the Lady Flames.
Liberty raced out to a 25-17 set one victory, out hitting the Cavaliers .421-.126 during the opening frame while getting six kills each from Jenna Otts and Carly O’Brien. The Lady Flames appeared poised to take a 2-0 match lead, holding a 21-17 lead in the second set. However, UVA went on a 9-3 surge, taking the set 26-24. The Cavaliers used a 12-0 run to pull away from a 25-9 set three win as Liberty falls to 5-33 all-time against Virginia.
On Friday, Liberty had its home opener with a sweep over Lamar from Liberty Arena. The Lady Flames did not let Lamar reach double digits in either of the first two sets. Lamar responded in the third set, scoring four straight points to take a 22-20 lead. However, Carly O’Brien then sparked a 5-1 match-clinching run which featured an Otts kill and two combo blocks from Otts and Collins.
Liberty was unable to maintain that momentum, falling to High Point on Sunday at Liberty Arena in four sets. The Panthers won the final two sets to claim the match. High Point is the three-time defending Big South tournament champion.
This week, Liberty plays at Radford on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before heading to New York for the Hofstra Tournament where the Flames will face Army on Friday at noon, Hofstra on Friday at 4 p.m., and Fairfield on Saturday at 1 p.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Liberty men’s and women’s cross country squads utilized a pack running strategy for much of the Eye Opener, this past Friday at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Their efforts resulted in a runner-up finish for the Flames and a third-place showing for the Lady Flames to kick off the season.
For the third consecutive season, the Flames and Lady Flames will compete in the adidas XC Challenge, September 18 in Cary, North Carolina.
