Flames soar over Eagles

The Liberty University women’s soccer team (7-7) defeated Winthrop University (3-9) at Osborne Stadium Oct. 12 by a final score of 2-0 to mark their third consecutive victory at Osborne Stadium.

The Lady Flames led the game 1-0 at the end of the first half. Freshman forward Gabrielle Farrell pushed the ball into the box from the right corner and scored after being assisted by junior midfielder Isabella Habuda.

“I sprinted down the line, and I saw Bella coming and she just made a great pass to me, and I just got in front of the goalie and finished,” Farrell said.

Liberty’s team showed a lot of intense effort throughout the game and continued to play solidly until the end.

“We came out a lot stronger than in — I think — our previous game, and that was because we did work together,” junior forward Jennifer Knoebel said.

The Lady Flames defense held strong through the afternoon, as they held possession for most of the game and never let Winthrop score a goal.

“I think we did pretty well,” Farrell said. “We had possession for a majority of the game, but like our coach said, we definitely could have done better. We got the win but we could have played better.”

Liberty had four corner kicks in the first 45 minutes of the game and five fouls.

They also took nine shots, and goalie Holly Van Noord saved one goal in the first half.

“Winthrop actually did pretty well,” Knoebel said. “They were trying to pressure us, and I know their backline was a lot higher than we thought. They tried to connect (the ball) through, but our midfield did a really good job.”

Winthrop attempted two goals and had one corner kick in the first half. Senior goalie Caroline Duncan saved two shots.

Liberty scored another goal in the 47th minute — the ball was lofted from the left side to the far post and headed in near the top corner.

The goal was shot by Habuda and assisted by junior defender Sami Santos.

Knoebel said the biggest reason the team had success on the field was the constant communication between teammates.

“Our communication was pretty good today,” Knoebel said. “We could always get better at communication, just everyone in general, but I thought today we did a really good job.”

During the second half, Liberty received three corner kicks, three fouls, and took 10 shots.

Winthrop did not receive any corner kicks in the second half but had six fouls and took two shots.

“We always expect to win, but expectations and actually doing the work are two different things, and I thought today we actually did the work,” Knoebel said.

Farrell said there are improvements to be made, but the team still played well.

“I think our hustle and passes weren’t that crisp and could’ve been better,” Farrell said. “I mean, overall, it was a good game, but there is always room for improvement
for the next game.”

The Lady Flames finished strong at Osborne Stadium and kept their energy high for the win.

“The momentum stayed up a majority of the game,” Farrell said. “At the end of the first half, I think we started to slow down a bit, but the second half it was definitely there.”

The Lady Flames next home game is Wednesday, Oct. 19 against Radford at 4 p.m.

DEUTSCH is a sports reporter.