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
The Liberty men’s cross country squad claimed the team title at last Friday’s adidas XC Challenge. The Lady Flames, meanwhile, posted a third place finish at the WakeMed Cross Country course. Nicholas Kiprotich, Edwin Kiprop, and Tristian Merchant placed 6-7-8 individually in the men’s 6K, helping the Flames record a five point victory over meet host NC State atop the 14-team men’s field.
Allie Zealand came in seventh in the women’s 5K pacing four Lady Flames inside the top 14. Liberty trailed NC State and Clemson among the 14 women’s teams.
The adidas XC Challenge was Liberty’s lone September meet. The team will split up between two competitions in the first weekend of October, including the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and the Paul Short Run.
FIELD HOCKEY (4-3, 0-1 Big East)
It was a disappointing weekend for the Lady Flames, dropping contests to Old Dominion and North Carolina. No. 19 Old Dominion scored a penalty corner goal in the 58th minute, propelling the Monarchs to a narrow 3-2 victory over No. 11 Liberty, Friday afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex. On Sunday, No. 2 North Carolina defeated liberty by a 7-0 score at the Liberty Field Hockey Field.
Liberty gets back in action on Friday at Providence for another conference match at 3 pm. On Sunday, the Lady Flames play at Albany in a non-conference tilt.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (9-0-2, 1-0 CUSA)
The Lady Flames erupted with three second half goals to top Jacksonville State, 4-0, on the road to open CUSA play on Thursday as Liberty continues its unbeaten season. Halle Engle opened the scoring for the seventh time this season in the 22nd minute.
Liberty is back in action on Friday evening at Osborne Stadium playing host to FIU at 6 p.m. in another CUSA match.
MEN’S SOCCER (2-3-1, 0-0 OVC)
No. 12 Clemson picked up a win over Liberty, 1-0, on Tuesday night in a weather-shortened game in South Carolina. The contest was affected twice by the weather. The start of the match was delayed an hour as a thunderstorm moved through the area and later, the match was halted, then made final in the 74th minute due to lightning. Clemson scored the game’s only goal during the 21st minute.
Liberty will play host to Western Illinois on Saturday at 7 pm in the team’s first conference match of the season.
VOLLEYBALL (6-6, 0-0 CUSA)
Liberty posted a 2-1 mark in the Ohio University Tournament over the weekend. The Lady Flames defeated Oakland in 5 sets on Friday afternoon before being swept in three sets by the host Ohio. On Saturday, the Lady Flames bounced back with a win over Eastern Kentucky in four sets.
The Lady Flames will open CUSA play this weekend against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana for two matches. Liberty and La Tech meet Friday night at 7 and then on Saturday at 2 p.m.
