Women’s Soccer Earns Semifinal Bid After Defeating Rival Lipscomb

Liberty’s women’s soccer team is riding a wave. Prior to the ASUN playoffs, Liberty had not won a game since March 7 – a 1-0 win over UNA. Now, with two playoff wins under their belts, including an upset win over No. 1 North seed Lipscomb, the Lady Flames have a spot in the ASUN semifinals – and they’re hitting their stride at just the right time. 

After notching only their fourth win of the season in the play-in game against UNA, the Lady Flames were up against Lipscomb – a team undefeated in ASUN play since Oct. 4, 2019. But an unanswered early goal by midfielder McKinley Burkett brought that run to an end after a stout defensive performance held Lipscomb at bay to seal a 1-0 win. 

A cagey opening 10 minutes set the pace for the rest of a game where both teams often struggled to carve out opportunities, but Liberty seemed the sharper of the two sides in the final third as the game started.

“Ultimately, I thought that Liberty started the game a little bit brighter than we did,” Lipscomb Coach Kevin O’Brien said after the game to Lipscomb’s website. “I thought for that first half we just never really found our way, which was surprising because we haven’t really run into that much this season. . . . So, to come out just a little bit slow, and getting second to balls that we are normally first to is something I have to give credit to Liberty. They came out with a good game plan.”

It took Liberty 20 minutes to break the deadlock, with a brief period of sustained possession by the Lady Flames giving Burkett the ball right on the edge of Lipscomb’s box. Burkett’s shot was blocked, but the rebound fell right to her and she stroked the ball past goalkeeper Melissa Gray on the second attempt to score the only goal of the game. 

Lipscomb outshot Liberty 16-to-nine during the game, but the Bisons often struggled to convert possession into clear-cut chances. Liberty top scorer Kasey Jamieson curled an effort just over the bar a few minutes after Burkett’s goal, but the first half came to an end without many more
opportunities. 

The second half was a different story, with Lipscomb taking 10 shots to Liberty’s two as the Lady Flames largely sat back and defended their one-goal lead. Even with Liberty goalkeeper Melody Jayroe’s four saves, however, the Bisons rarely threatened to equalize.

“In the end, I thought we played well enough in the second half to get an equalizer, but the game of soccer is incredibly unpredictable, and they were able to get the goal they got that stood the rest of the match,” O’Brien said. 

Lipscomb’s best opportunity came with eight minutes left in regulation time, when defender Emily Patti lobbed a deep pass into Liberty’s penalty area. Midfielder Kelli Beiler got a head to the ball, but her header clanked the bottom of the woodwork and Liberty cleared it away. 

The Lady Flames survived a couple more late scares as the Bisons catapulted the ball into the box at every opportunity, but they couldn’t find the target and Liberty closed out the win relatively comfortably as the clock ticked away.   

“We knew it would be a really hard-fought game,” Liberty Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer said after the game to Liberty’s website. “We were weathering a big storm in that second half and it was a full team effort to pull it out.” 

With the win, Liberty moves on to the semifinals of the tournament against North Florida. The two teams will play April 15 at 4 p.m. on Kennesaw State’s home field. 

John Nekrasov is the Sports Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @john_nekrasov.

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