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
Liberty’s Adelyn Fairley raced to an impressive 16th place finish in the women’s blue race, headlining the Flames’ morning at the XC23 Pre-Nationals on Saturday at Panorama Farms. Both the Liberty men’s and women’s squads placed 20th overall in the regular season finale.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams will be the first Liberty teams ever to compete for Conference USA titles, doing so on Oct. 28 at Hobson Grove Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The 2023 CUSA Cross Country Championships will begin with the men’s 8K at 10 a.m. and will conclude with the women’s 6K at 11 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY (15-1, 6-0 Big East)
Jodie Conolly notched her first career three-goal game, propelling No. 6 Liberty to a 3-0 home win over UConn on Friday evening at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. The win gives the Lady Flames at least a share of the Big East regular season title for the third straight year. Additionally, Liberty has officially clinched the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Big East Field Hockey Championship.
The Lady Flames will close out the regular season against Georgetown on Friday afternoon with game time set for 1 p.m.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (13-2-1, 4-2-1 CUSA)
Liberty was defeated, 1-0, by Western Kentucky in its last home game of the season on Saturday night. The two squads played to a scoreless tie in the first half before the Lady Toppers jumped out to the lead during the 51st minute. The goal by Katie Erwin was initially saved by Liberty goalkeeper Ainsley Leja. The save deflected off the left post and rebounded directly back to Erwin.
Liberty put together multiple chances on set plays and runs during the remainder of the game, but the WKU defense shut down most opportunities.
Liberty now travels to Ruston, Louisiana to take on Louisiana Tech in its regular season finale on Sunday. This will be played at the same site the CUSA Women’s Soccer Championships will be held from Nov. 1-5.
MEN’S SOCCER (9-5-1, 4-3-1 OVC)
Liberty fell to Lindenwood, 2-1, in an OVC match on Thursday evening at Osborne Stadium in Lynchburg. The visiting Lions took a 2-0 lead before Liberty cut into their advantage with a goal in the 78th minute, but the comeback attempt would be thwarted.
On Sunday, the Flames got back in the win column by a 2-1 score over Incarnate Word in an OVC match and final home game of the regular season.
Liberty will finish out the OVC regular season with two road matches in Texas. The Flames will face Houston Christian on Thursday before finishing the regular season at Incarnate Word on Sunday.
VOLLEYBALL (11-11, 4-6 CUSA)
Liberty defeated FIU in four sets on Friday night at Liberty Arena. In the rematch on Saturday, FIU was able to snap a five match winless streak, sweeping Liberty in three tightly contested sets.
Liberty heads to Texas for the second of three times this season, competing against Sam Houston on Friday and Saturday in Huntsville, Texas.
