Bringing home the gold
Liberty claimed four Big South conference championships in the fall sport season
With another season of fall sports in the books, four Liberty University teams earned championships, with three coming in the Big South and one in the NorPac Conferences. Three of the four championship teams continued their season in NCAA Tournaments.
Each team gained a trophy along with championship rings for their acomplishments.
The men’s cross country team earned its ninth consecutive Big South Championship, narrowly defeating the High Point Panthers 40-48. The Flames had three top-10 finishes to set the pace for the rest of the competition.
After defeating the No. 16 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 56-14 Saturday, Nov. 23, the Flames football team earned a share of the Big South Championship with No. 7 Coastal Carolina.
Liberty earned its sixth title in seven years. However, with an 8-4 (4-1, Big South) record, Liberty was unable to advance to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.
Although they did not make the FCS playoffs, 16 players were named to the Big South All-Conference Team.
In only its third year in existence as an NCAA Division I program, the Lady Flames field hockey team defeated Stanford, 2-1, in a rematch of last year’s NorPac Tournament title game.
After going undefeated in conference play (8-0) and finishing with a 17-5 record, the Lady Flames made their first trip to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship, where they faced the No. 14 Delaware Blue Hens in a play-in game. Although they lost to the Blue Hens, 1-0, Liberty brings back 25 of 28 players, next season.
It was tough to score on the Lady Flames soccer team this season. With an overall record of 16-6-2, Liberty was led by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Holly Van Noord, who posted a record 14 shutouts this season. As the No. 2 seed during the Big South Championship, the Lady Flames knocked off the No. 1 seed Radford Highlanders 5-0 to capture their fourth Big South Title. Liberty made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in eight years and fell to No. 1 seed North Carolina in the first round.
As the fall semester closes, in the winter and spring seasons, 11 teams will look to defends six Big South titles.