Friday, November 3
Ruston, La.
8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT
Liberty University
4
at
0
Louisiana Tech
DeRuby Guides Liberty to CUSA Final with 4-0 Win over Louisiana Tech
11/4/2023 12:09:00 AM | Women's Soccer
RUSTON, La. – The Liberty women's soccer team ignited for three second-half goals in a 4-0 rout of No. 6 seed Louisiana Tech in the semifinal round of the Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship.
Rachel DeRuby, the CUSA Midfielder of the Year, paved the way for Liberty with two goals and an assist on the game-winning goal.
Following the result, No. 2 seed Liberty (15-2-1, 5-2-1 CUSA) advances to the final where they will take on No. 1 seed New Mexico State (10-5-3, 6-0-2 CUSA). In their previous meeting during the regular season, New Mexico State ended Liberty's 24-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 road victory on Sept. 30.
Saydie Holland opened the game, scoring off a corner in the 25' minute. Holland scored her seventh goal of the season off the set piece served by DeRuby.
Liberty led after the first 45 minutes and held a 6-4 shot edge during the first half. The Lady Flames managed to keep consistent pressure, winning four corners and not allowing a single opportunity to the Bulldogs.
Coming out of the half, DeRuby ran past the LA Tech backline off a perfect pass from Ava Goodman from just beyond midfield. Goodman's pass found DeRuby on the right corner of the penalty box, where she dribbled around an aggressive keeper trying to disrupt the play. The senior knocked the ball in from a tough angle.
Chloe Marr extended the lead to three during the 71st minute. The senior capitalized off a rebound off a Claire Valentine header that caught the LA Tech goalie out of position. Marr was able to run through the middle of the field and capitalize on the empty net.
DeRuby scored her second of the half and her fifth point of the game on a penalty kick. DeRuby drew the penalty after getting tripped up by the LA Tech keeper.
Quote from Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer
"I think getting that first goal was really big. It was a really scrappy game. There wasn't a lot of momentum or really rhythm in that first half, but you know that's kind of tournament play sometimes. It's a night game and LA Tech played really hard. They gave us some problems but our girls were scrappy and gritty. We found some great goals and we're moving on!"
Scoring Summary
25' – Liberty – Saydie Holland (Rachel DeRuby)
47' – Liberty – Rachel DeRuby (Ava Goodman)
71' – Liberty – Chloe Marr
75' – Liberty – Rachel DeRuby
Lady Flames News & Notes
Up Next
Liberty returns to Robert Mack Caruthers Field to take on No. 1 seed New Mexico State in the CUSA Women's Soccer Championship final on Sunday. The championship is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. CT.
The matchup is the first between new additions to CUSA in the final since 2005.
Rachel DeRuby, the CUSA Midfielder of the Year, paved the way for Liberty with two goals and an assist on the game-winning goal.
Following the result, No. 2 seed Liberty (15-2-1, 5-2-1 CUSA) advances to the final where they will take on No. 1 seed New Mexico State (10-5-3, 6-0-2 CUSA). In their previous meeting during the regular season, New Mexico State ended Liberty's 24-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 road victory on Sept. 30.
Saydie Holland opened the game, scoring off a corner in the 25' minute. Holland scored her seventh goal of the season off the set piece served by DeRuby.
Liberty led after the first 45 minutes and held a 6-4 shot edge during the first half. The Lady Flames managed to keep consistent pressure, winning four corners and not allowing a single opportunity to the Bulldogs.
Coming out of the half, DeRuby ran past the LA Tech backline off a perfect pass from Ava Goodman from just beyond midfield. Goodman's pass found DeRuby on the right corner of the penalty box, where she dribbled around an aggressive keeper trying to disrupt the play. The senior knocked the ball in from a tough angle.
Chloe Marr extended the lead to three during the 71st minute. The senior capitalized off a rebound off a Claire Valentine header that caught the LA Tech goalie out of position. Marr was able to run through the middle of the field and capitalize on the empty net.
DeRuby scored her second of the half and her fifth point of the game on a penalty kick. DeRuby drew the penalty after getting tripped up by the LA Tech keeper.
Quote from Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer
"I think getting that first goal was really big. It was a really scrappy game. There wasn't a lot of momentum or really rhythm in that first half, but you know that's kind of tournament play sometimes. It's a night game and LA Tech played really hard. They gave us some problems but our girls were scrappy and gritty. We found some great goals and we're moving on!"
Scoring Summary
25' – Liberty – Saydie Holland (Rachel DeRuby)
47' – Liberty – Rachel DeRuby (Ava Goodman)
71' – Liberty – Chloe Marr
75' – Liberty – Rachel DeRuby
Lady Flames News & Notes
- Liberty held an advantage in total shots 13-11 but were topped in shots on goal, 6-4. Liberty has outshot its opponent in every game this season. The last time the Lady Flames were outshot was on Sept. 11, 2022, a 3-2 loss at Pitt.
- DeRuby's two-goal game makes her the fourth player with a multi-score game this season joining Allison Hansford, Holland and Goodman. Goodman recorded her two-score game last Sunday during a 4-1 win at LA Tech.
- DeRuby currently leads Liberty with eight goals and 19 points (three assists).
- DeRuby is the first Lady Flame this season to be involved in three goals in a single game.
- Saydie Holland scored her seventh goal of the season Friday, her fourth game-winning goal of the season. Holland joins Ivy Garner and Goodman for the CUSA lead in game-winning goals.
- Goodman's assist on DeRuby's second goal, was her first assist of the season.
- Chloe Marr scored her second goal of the season on Friday.
- Goalkeeper Ainsley Leja tied her program record with her tenth shutout in 2023. Leja secured the record in 2022.
- Making five saves on Friday, Leja recorded her 17th game allowing one goal or less this season.
- The keeper's goals against average (GAA) moves to 0.50 and her save percentage increases to .833 for 2023.
- The only game Leja has allowed more than a single was against New Mexico State (2-0) on Sept. 30.
- With another clean sheet during Sunday's championship game, Leja would surpass both her program shutout record and the lowest GAA in a season, which she also set in 2022 with a 0.62.
- The 4-0 victory on Friday was the largest margin of victory in a CUSA Championship semifinal since 2013.
- Friday's win was the fourth instance that Liberty scored three times in the same half. The Lady Flames achieved the feat in wins over West Virginia (3-1, Sept. 3), Sam Houston (6-0, Sept. 24) and LA Tech (4-1, Oct. 29)
- Four Lady Flames, Leja, Lena James, Rebekah Earnest and Sallie Garner, all played a full 90 minutes on Friday. Leja has been in goal for every minute of 2023.
- Liberty improved its road record to 9-0-1 this season.
Up Next
Liberty returns to Robert Mack Caruthers Field to take on No. 1 seed New Mexico State in the CUSA Women's Soccer Championship final on Sunday. The championship is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. CT.
The matchup is the first between new additions to CUSA in the final since 2005.
Players Mentioned
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