Liberty remains in control

Lady Flames drive away Lady Camels to stay undefeated in Big South play

The Liberty women’s soccer team (5-5-1, 3-0) continued its winning streak Sept. 30 at Osborne Stadium with a 3-1 victory over Big South rival Campbell (7-4, 2-1).

 command — Forward Jaime Bouffard controls a pass. Photo credit: Michela Diddle

Command — Forward Jaime Bouffard controls a pass. Photo credit: Michela Diddle

The Lady Flames offense controlled the ball on the Lady Camels side of the field early. Just minutes into the game, sophomore forward Jennifer Knoebel had the ball in the offensive zone and sent a pass toward teammates. Lady Camels goalkeeper Alexis Connors was fully stretched out and saved the ball from finding the back of the net.

The Lady Flames found themselves with another good chance in the eighth minute when senior midfielder Brittany Aanderud lobbed the ball over the defender’s head and Knoebel was able to chase it down. With only the keeper to beat, Knoebel snuck the ball into the back of the net to give the Lady Flames a 1-0 lead.

“We were possessing pretty well in the first half to start,” Knoebel said. “That always gets everyone in a groove. And then we were just finding a lot of space behind the backs and I was able to exploit their outer back.”

Knoebel was not done there. Towards the end of the 12th minute, she dribbled the ball along the right side of the field and sent the ball across the middle where it found the foot of freshman forward Devon Jones who guided the ball into the back of the net giving the Lady Flames a 2-0 lead.

At the start of the second half the Lady Flames found more offense. Five minutes into the half, Knoebel once again took the ball up the right side of the field and sent it across. This time, the ball met the foot of freshman midfielder Alyssa Hill who put the ball past the goalkeeper into the left corner.

“Before this game, we talked a lot about the fruit of the Spirit,” Head Coach Jessica Hain said. “Self-control being one of the most challenging fruits of the Spirit. The girls came up with a mission statement for the year, which is to achieve a new aroma. A new aroma would mean a lot of self-control.”

The Lady Camels got on the board in the 82nd minute with a penalty kick scored by senior forward Ashley Clark. That cut the Lady Flames lead to 3-1, but that would be the only offense the Lady Camels could manage as the Lady Flames remained undefeated in Big South play.

“We were tied with Campbell for first we both had two (Big South) wins,” Knoebel said. “So right now that puts us as overall first place, and I think it will just build up on confidence for us going through the season.”

The Lady Flames will continue Big South play on the road against Presbyterian on Oct. 7. Their next home game will be Oct. 10 against High Point.

Day is a sports reporter.

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