2025 was a year for the record books for many reasons, and for Liberty Athletics, the Flames had another banner year.
We put together a list because everyone loves lists at New Year’s. This is our annual list of the top moments in Liberty Athletics, not necessarily the BESTÂ moments, but the biggest. Our 25 moments that defined Liberty Athletics for 2025.
25. FLAMES WIN FIELD OF 68 SHOWCASE
Getting to host the Field of 68 Showcase event after playing the prior two seasons in the event at FAU and Charleston, Liberty took advantage of its home court advantage. The Flames swept the two games against the Owls and Cougars in impressive fashion to win the event in 2025.
24. VASKO TRANSFERS TO LU, WINS STARTING JOB, GETS INJURED
Liberty was looking for a new quarterback following Kaidon Salter’s exit to the transfer portal. The Flames brought in Coastal Carolina transfer QB Ethan Vasko who went on to win the starting job. He fought through injury throughout the season while completing 56.8% of his passes for 1,961 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
23. FLAMES FALL IN BAHAMAS BOWL WITH DEPLETED ROSTER
Liberty advanced to a 6th straight bowl game following the 2024 season, and playing in the Bahamas Bowl back on January 4th. The Flames lost to Buffalo, 26-7, with a depleted roster.
22. FLAMES WIN AT DAYTON
Earlier this month, Liberty picked up a win at Dayton, ending the Flyers 33-game non-conference home winning streak. Dayton is the 7th highest ranked team Liberty has ever defeated in the KenPom era, only two others ranked higher were true road wins.
21. SWIMMING & DIVING 7-PEATS
Liberty swimming & diving won its seventh straight conference championship, winning the 2025 ASUN championship. The program now moves into the AAC.
20. LACROSSE WINS ASUN, REACHES NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Liberty Lady Flames lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history after defeating Coastal Carolina in the ASUN Women’s Lacrosse Championship title game.
19. BATTLE OF THE BLUE RIDGE IS BORN
Liberty and James Madison announced the formation of the Battle of the Blue Ridge, a rivalry series in football with 10 scheduled meetings between the two programs between the 2025 and 2040 seasons. JMU took the trophy home for the first time after defeating the Flames in Lynchburg this past September. The two will open the 2026 season in Harrisonburg.
18. BASEBALL FINISHES FIRST SEASON UNDER HEAD COACH BRADLEY LECROY
The Flames’ baseball program finished its first season under head coach Bradley LeCroy this past spring. Liberty posted a 30-27 overall record and 10-17 mark in CUSA, going 0-2 in the CUSA Baseball Championship as the 8-seed which was hosted at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg.
17. WILLY KORN STEPS AWAY FROM FOOTBALL
Former Liberty co-offensive coordinator and QBs coach Willy Korn announced he was stepping away from football following the conclusion of the 2025 football season. Korn had worked with head coach Jamey Chadwell since 2013 and played for Chadwell at North Greenville.
16. SCOTT WELLS NAMED MEN’S SOCCER HEAD COACH
Scott Wells was named Liberty’s head men’s soccer coach in November, coming to Lynchburg after three very successful seasons at Gardner-Webb, leading the Runnin’ Bulldogs to back-to-back 13-win seasons, a Big South Championship, an NCAA Championship first-round win, and a top 10 national ranking.
15. VOLLEYBALL STARTS SEASON 14-1
The Lady Flames got off to an impressive start under first year head coach Jeremy White. Liberty jumped out to an early 14-1 season record with wins over Houston and Rutgers, the program’s first ever wins over a Big 12 or Big 10 opponent.
14. FOOTBALL FALTERS LATE
After starting the season 1-4, the Flames rebounded to win three straight with an unbeaten month of October. It set the team up to make a November push for a bowl game and CUSA championship contention. However, those hopes came up short with four straight losses to end the season, all of them in the closing moments including the final three losses in o vertime.
13. WOMEN’S SOCCER WINS CUSA CHAMPIONSHIP
Liberty won its second CUSA women’s soccer championship in three seasons this past fall after defeating No. 8 Missouri State at home in the title game to secure the league’s 2025 automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. Ivy Garner was named the CUSA Player of the Year and CUSA Championship OFfensive MVP while Lauren Littleton was the CUSA Defensive Player of the Year and CUSA Championship Defensive MVP.
12. FIELD HOCKEY, WOMEN’S SOCCER COME UP JUST SHORT
In the matter of just a few hours on a Friday in November, Liberty’s field hockey and women’s soccer teams saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in their own respective national tournaments. Field hockey lost to No. 10 Syracuse in a shootout for a 3-2 decision in the Sweet 16 while Clemson scored a goal in the 82nd minute to knock off the soccer team, 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
11. FLAMES IN THE MAJORS
Mason Fluharty and Fraser Ellard spent most of the 2025 season in the Big Leagues. The former Liberty relievers had their moments shining at the highest level of the sport. Fluharty, playing f or the Blue Jays, went 5-2 with a 4.44 ERA and 56 strikeouts, notching his first career save on August 10 by striking out Shohei Ohtani and stranding three inherited runners on base to clinch the win over the Dodgers. Fluharty got to pitch in the World Series before he and the Blue Jays lost to the Dodgers in 7 games. Ellard spent two seasons with the White Sox, throwing 17 innings with a 4.24 ERA this past season before announcing his retirement at the end of the season.
10. ALLIE ZEALAND EMERGES AS A RISING STAR
Liberty’s Allie Zealand is quietly and quickly emerging as a star not just for the Flames but nationally. She earned All-American honors in cross country this fall and just a couple weeks later clocked an 8:44.71 3K to open her indoor track season, shattering her own program record and ranking No. 10 in NCAA history.
9. EVAN DICKENS HAS HISTORIC SEASON
After transferring from Georgia Tech and beginning the season down on the depth chart, Evan Dickens exploded onto the scene with one of the best seasons any Liberty running back has ever had. He rushed for 1,339 yards and 16 touchdowns, leading CUSA in touchdowns and second in rushing yards. At the end of the regular season, Dickens ranked No. 3 nationally in rushing yards per game, No. 4 in rushing touchdowns, and No. 5 in rushing yards. He posted a school record three 200-yard rushing performances in 2025, ranked second in single-season school history in rushing touchdowns and third in rushing yards.
8. FIELD HOCKEY WINS BIG EAST
Liberty field hockey won the Big East regular season and tournament championship and was ranked in the top 10 nationally for the majority of the season. The Lady Flames finished the year at 17-3 after falling to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
7. CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK IN HUNTSVILLE, MBB & WBB TAKE HOME TITLES
For a second straight year, Conference USA held its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments jointly in Huntsville, Alabama at Propst Arena. This past March, it was all Liberty as both the men and women basketball teams cut down the nets and left town with the conference tournament title, both teams capping historic seasons that also included regular season CUSA titles.
6. OREGON OWNS FLAMES
In 2024, Liberty was blasted by Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. 2025 saw more of the same with the Big 10 power eliminating the Liberty men’s basketball team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and then knocking out Liberty softball in the Super Regionals.
5. TAELON PETER SELECTED IN NBA DRAFT
Peter was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, the first Flame selected in the draft in 40 years and the highest NBA Draft pick in program history.
4. CAREY GREEN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
The winningest coach in Liberty Athletics history, Carey Green announced his retirement as Liberty Women’s Basketball head coach. He spent 26 seasons roaming the sidelines for the Lady Flames, racking up 31 conference titles. He coached the Lady Flames to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, headlined by a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2005. Last year marked Green’s 20th 20-win season at Liberty, leaving on a high note after winning the program’s first CUSA regular season and tournament titles this past March.
3. BASKETBALL GETS BACK TO BIG DANCE
After a three-year hiatus, Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay and the Flames’ basketball team got back to the Big Dance after winning the CUSA regular season and tournament title. Liberty finished the year with a 28-7 overall record.
2. SOFTBALL HAS HISTORIC RUN TO SUPER REGIONALS
The Lady Flames had a banner year in 2025, as the softball team finished the spring season with a 50-15 record, setting a new program record for single-season victories. Liberty won both the CUSA regular season and tournament titles for a second year in a row. The team made history at the 2025 NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional, winning two out of three games against No. 1 Texas A&M to win its first-ever Super Regional appearance. The Lady Flames were the first team in the Super Regional to knock out the No. 1 national seed in the Regional round.
1. FOOTBALL HAS DISAPPOINTING 4-8 SEASON
It was a tough year for Liberty football. The Flames started the season at 1-4 before rebounding to win three-straight, evening the record at 4-4. The season would end in great disappointment though, with the Flames dropping four-straight games, including the final three in overtime, to finish the season at 4-8. It marks the first time at the FBS level that Liberty did not reach a bowl game and first time since 2005 that the program did not win six games in a season.
