Liberty sports had great success last season, winning the Virginia All-State Sports Championship for the first time in school history. The award is given to the school with the best overall winning percentage in Virginia Division I sports.
How did the Flames get on this fall season?
Cross country fought hard in the ASUN with the women winning the conference and the men finishing in second place. In regionals, the women finished fifth, the highest mark in program history at this event. While neither team qualified for nationals, senior Calli Doan qualified individually, finishing 28th and earning All-American status.
In football, the Flames finished the regular season with a 7-5 record, Liberty’s third winning season in a row. The Flames have booked a place in the LendingTree Bowl against Eastern Michigan Dec. 18. Liberty secured its long-term future in the FBS with the announcement that the Flames would move to Conference USA in 2023. The Flames were also able to tie down Head Coach Hugh Freeze to a lucrative extension through 2028.
In men’s soccer, Liberty finished with a 7-9 record, falling in the ASUN quarterfinals to Stetson. The team’s most impressive victory of the year was a 9-1 slaughtering of VMI.
Women’s soccer also fell in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament, finishing with a 11-7-1 record. After starting 0-3, the Lady Flames turned their season around, winning eight games in a row and scoring 22 goals over the course of those games while only letting in two goals.
Volleyball finished its season 10-14 and fell to ASUN No. 1 seed FGCU in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament. The Lady Flames performed particularly well at neutral venues, going 6-1 in these games.
Field hockey finished Liberty’s best NCAA Division I team season in history, playing in the national championship against Northwestern. The Lady Flames finished 20-3, with notable victories over UNC (who had not lost at home in seven years), ODU (to win their first Big East regular season title) and UConn (ending the Huskies’ nine-year conference championship title reign). The Lady Flames also knocked off the national No. 1 seed Rutgers in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals before beating No. 5 Maryland in overtime to reach the national championship. This marked the first time any Liberty DI team reached the national championship in any sport.
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