The Lady Flames Soccer team defeated the University of Delaware 2-0, Oct. 22 at Osborne Stadium.
Both teams came into the matchup undefeated in conference play with Liberty at five wins and The Fightin’ Blue Hens at four wins and a draw.
With only two matchups remaining before the conference tournament, this showdown was highly anticipated by both sides.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game; Delaware is very good,” Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “We told our girls this was kind of like a mini championship between us.”
In the first half, Liberty got its offense rolling with multiple shots on goal, but Delaware sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Hall made key saves. Only 18 minutes into the game, junior midfielder Isabella Wedemeyer put a shot into the net’s low corner for the first goal of the game, assisted by fifth-year forward Halle Engle.
The rest of the first half was a defensive battle with neither team scoring.
Most of the second half remained quiet on the scoring front. The Lady Flames defense continued to dominate while the offense kept Hall busy with shots on goal.
“She (Hall) played a fantastic game; she had a ton of great saves,” Engle said. “It’s great to just get goals on her, especially with how talented she is as a player.”
During the last 10 minutes of play, junior forward Margaret Garner scored, assisted by Engle and senior midfielder Avenley Monteith.
The Lady Flames held their 2-0 lead until the final whistle, when they extended their winning streak to 11 games.
“Well, honestly, we don’t talk about those things very much,” head coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “All of our focus is just on one game at a time because as soon as you start to look at multiple games or even the conference tournament, you lose your focus.”
The Lady Flames return to Osborne Stadium to take on Missouri State University Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. Stream live on ESPN+.
Meadows is a sports reporter for The Liberty Champion.