The Liberty University Women’s Soccer team competed against George Mason University (GMU) on Sept. 6 at Osborne Stadium, claiming a 4-3 comeback win.
The game began slow for the Lady Flames. George Mason’s graduate student midfielder Mia Casciani sent the ball into the goal 44 seconds into the game. After a foul on Lady Flame senior midfielder Avenley Monteith, GMU scored on a penalty kick at the 10:42 mark. Liberty fought hard on the offense with 4 shots on goal and 8 shots total but could not get past GMU senior goalkeeper Libby Davy.
“I think that in the first half we had pretty good control of the game for good portions. They countered a couple free kicks that we weren’t prepared for, and to their credit, they took advantage of them,” Lady Flames Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer said.
Casciani scored her second goal of the game 21 seconds into the second half, to bring GMU’s lead up 3-0.
With 14 minutes remaining in the game, the Lady Flames ignited. Monteith put Liberty on the board with an assist from senior forward Carly Keene.
This change in momentum caused the Lady Flames to catch fire.
Junior midfielder Isabella Wedemeyer and junior forward Haley Noblit scored one apiece 11 minutes after Liberty scored its first goal, bringing the game to 3-3.
Heavy rain made ball possession a struggle, but the Lady Flames kept the game tied for another 12 minutes.
With only a few minutes left, sophomore forward Keelyn Eslinger scored the game-winning goal.
Monteith walked away from the game a valuable player with 4 shots, 2 shots on goal, 1 goal, and 1 assist.
“I hope that they see we are different from other teams in the way that when we get pushed down we get up and we go for it again,” Monteith said. “When one of our teammates gets pushed down, we help them up. We know what we are here to do, and we are here to win.”
Wendemeyer said the team plans to build on this performance for their upcoming game against rival James Madison University.
“I think it gives the players an understanding that they are never out of the game,” Wedemeyer said. “They can come back, and that’s a great lesson for us, but it’s also a good lesson that we need to be a little sharper in how we start things.”
The Lady Flames return to their home field on Thursday, Sept. 10 to play against James Madison University.
Joy is a sports reporter for The Liberty Champion