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
Allie Zealand made a strong bid for the Joe Plane Notre Dame Invitational women’s 5K individual title Friday morning before finishing second in a program record 15:54:7. Her effort led the Lady Flames to a fifth place finish in the women’s standings. Meanwhile, the Flames put four men inside the top 40 of the men’s 8K at Burke Golf Course as the men’s squad came in eighth.
The women’s cross country “B” team took second place at the Spartan Classic in Kernersville, North Carolina on Friday evening. Sophia Park’s third place women’s 5K individual finish led the Lady Flames, putting them only nine points behind the meet champion No. 25 Wake Forest’s “B” squad. Liberty topped host UNCG’s “A” team who finished third in the 14-team field.
Liberty will close out the regular season with ia pair of Oct. 18 competitions. Most of the team will head to Columbia, Missouri for the Pre-National Invitational. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames will also look to defend their team title at the Roanoke XC Invitational in Salem, Virginia.
#6 FIELD HOCKEY (9-1, 3-0 Big East)
On Friday, Liberty earned its fourth shutout in a row, topping Old Dominion 1-0 in Big East Conference play at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. The Lady Flames move into sole possession of first place in the league and are now the only unbeaten team in conference, also moving to a perfect 5-0 at home this season. Julieta Tornati’s penalty corner goal late in the second quarter proved to be the difference in the match.
On Sunday, freshman forward Zoe Gaillard set a new single-game program record with five goals, lifting the Lady Flames to a 7-1 win at No. 17 Appalachian State. Liberty moves its win streak to five stretch matches. The six goal victory is the largest margin of victory ever over a ranked program.
Liberty will return to action on Friday afternoon at Big East opponent Georgetown. Match time from Washington, D.C. is 1 p.m. On Tuesday, the Flames play at Virginia at 5 p.m.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (7-3-4, 2-0-2 CUSA)
Liberty gets the win over FIU in Miami, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon after falling to the Panthers 1-0 in the 2024 CUSA Championship final. Entering Sunday, Liberty was winless in three contests against FIU, having not scored a single goal when facing the Panthers. Isabella Wedemeyer would ensure that would not extend to a fourth meeting, as she scored her first goal of the season in the 36th minute. The Lady Flames earned an insurance goal from Margaret Garner in the 80th minute, scoring the first goal of her career. FIU would finally get on the scoreboard 30 seconds later, but Liberty restricted any dangerous chance from developing in the final 10 minutes to preserve the victory.
The Lady Flames continue conference play this week, hosting Kennesaw State on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Jacksonville State on Saturday at 6 p.m.
MEN’S SOCCER (6-3-2, 2-1 OVC)
Liberty scored two goals early in the second half and then held off a late charge by Incarnate World for a 2-1 victory Thursday evening. After a scoreless first half, the host Flames jumped on the scoreboard minutes into the second half on a goal by Ben Carman. Later, Liberty made it 2-0 as Zach Lifferth scored during the 70th minute.
On Sunday, Houston Christian scored the match’s lone goal in the 49th m inute to pick up the win over the Flames, 1-0, at Osborne Stadium. HCU goalkeeper Alex Aitken made eight saves in the second half on Liberty’s 12 shots.
This week, Liberty continues OVC play, playing at Southern Indiana in Evansville Thursday at 1 p.m. before returning home to host Lindenwood Sunday at 1.
VOLLEYBALL (14-3, 2-2 CUSA)
UTEP completed a weekend sweep of the visiting Lady Flames, with the Miners winner in straight sets on Friday and again on Saturday. UTEP maintains a perfect 4-0 record in conference play, tied atop the league standings with New Mexico State and WKU. Liberty brought a 10-match winning streak into the weekend. UTEP is now 8-0 all-time against Liberty in volleyball.
This week, Liberty will look to bounce back by hosting Kennesaw State at Liberty Arena on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
