Liberty’s fall sports are officially underway all over campus, and we will provide weekly updates on all of the teams throughout the semester.
CROSS COUNTRY
For the second meet in a row, Allie Zealand set a program record and led her team to a ninth overall finish at last Friday’s Pre-National Invitational. Zealand’s first 6K of the season resulted in a program-record 19:40.4 for fifth place. Meanwhile, the Flames produced a 21st place men’s team showing at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The Lady Flames totaled 325 points for ninth place of 38 women’s teams, including second to Clemson among Southeast Region squads. Zealand took down one of Calli Doan’s program records, shaving 10 seconds off Doan’s 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida. Nicholas Kiprotich came in 71st in the men’s 8K in 24:22.2, leading the Flames to a 21st place finish out of 31 men’s teams.
Freshman Eden Alexander led the way for Liberty at Saturday’s Roanoke XC Invitational, placing seventh in the women’s 6K at Green Hill Park. In the men’s 8K, freshman Caden Ellis finished 32nd of 239 runners.
The Liberty men’s and women’s squads will attempt to defend their team titles at the CUSA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1. The meet will take place at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama, with the women’s 6K slated for 10 a.m. Eastern and the men’s 8K to follow at 11 a.m.
#7 FIELD HOCKEY (14-2, 6-0 Big East)
On Friday, Liberty survived in penalty shootouts over Temple, 3-2 (3-1 in shootout) in Philadelphia. With the win, the Lady Flames secure the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Big East Championship with one regular season game to be played. The Lady Flames have locked up at least a share of the Big East regular season title for the fourth time in the last five years. Liberty built a 2-1 lead after one half behind goals from Zoe Gaillard and Josefina Tomasi. Temple’s Lucia Magro scored two goals, her second at the 46:29 mark to even the contest. The Owls outshot Liberty 13-0 in the second half and 3-0 in the first overtime. In the shootout, Diane Saint Martin had three stops on the Owls’ four chances. Liberty’s Dara Semmartin, Lou Combrinck, and Julieta Tornati found the back of the cage for the 3-1 result in the shootout.
On Sunday, six Liberty players scored goals in a 7-1 road win at Longwood. Morena Giacosa notched her first career two-goal game and Madie Baker scored her first career goal. Julieta Tornati, Avery Pollock, Dara Semmartin, and Tori Griffiths also notched goals.
Liberty will play their final regular season match on Frida against Villanova at 3 p.m. from the Liberty Field Hockey Field. The Big East Championship will take place Nov. 7-9, also at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (11-3-4, 6-0-2 CUSA)
Liberty claimed a share of the 2025 CUSA regular season title with a 2-0 shutout victory over Sam Houston on Sunday. The home triumph also secured head coach Lang Wedemeyer’s 100th career win at the helm for Liberty. Defender Lauren Littleton opened the scoring in the waning minutes of the first half. Ivy Garner added to the lead in the 57th minute with her CUSA-leading tenth goal of the season.
The Lady Flames have secured the No. 2 seed in the 2025 CUSA Women’s Soccer Championship from Nov. 2-7 at Osborne Stadium. Liberty is set to play in the opening game of the event, kicking off at 11 a.m. against No. 7 seed Louisiana Tech on Sunday.
MEN’S SOCCER (8-3-5, 4-1-3 OVC)
Liberty downed the SIUE Cougars 2-1 on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Osborne Stadium. The contest was also the last home game for Liberty head coach Kelly Findley who announced his retirement from collegiate coaching at the end of the 2025 season. The host Flames jumped out to a 2-0 lead during the first half. Forward Leo Conneh scored Liberty’s first goal, his sixth of the season. Fellow forward and senior Ben Carman scored his third goal of the season to push the advantage to 2-0. In the 71st minute, SIUE cut their deficit to 2-1. However, the Flames’ solid defensive play continued, allowing only one more shot on goal the rest of the contest to secure the victory.
This week, Liberty concludes the regular season with two games in Texas. On Thursday, the Flames play at Houston Christian at 8 p.m. Sunday, the Flames play at Incarnate Word in San Antonio at 1 p.m. The OVC Men’s Soccer Championship begins Nov. 9 in St. Charles, Missouri.
VOLLEYBALL (16-7, 4-6 CUSA)
FIU posted 3-1 wins over Liberty on Friday and Saturday at Liberty Arena as they improved to 8-2 in conference play and the Lady Flames fall below .500 in league play.
The Lady Flames return to the road for their next four matches against CUSA newcomers, beginning with contests at Delaware, Friday and Saturday.
