Liberty Prepares for No. 4 Georgia in First Round of NCAA Tournament

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Lady Flames, the 2023 Conference USA champions, head South to face the SEC Champions No.4 seed Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship on Friday. Liberty (16-2-1) will face Georgia (11-4-5) at the Turner Soccer Complex in Athens, Ga.

The meeting will be the first between the two programs since 2003 where Georgia topped Liberty 8-0 on Sept. 26. The Lady Flames are seeking their first win in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

Tickets are available online and will not be available at the gate. The link for tickets closes at game time.

Lady Flames News & Notes

Liberty finished the regular season 16-2-1 (5-2-1 CUSA). The Lady Flames entered the Conference USA Championship as the No. 2 seed and picked up wins over No. 6 Louisiana Tech (4-0) and No. 1 New Mexico State (2-1) to secure the title, last Sunday.
The Lady Flames are seeing their first NCAA Tournament victory in its eighth appearance. Liberty won a play-in game over Tennessee Tech (1-0) in the 2000 season, but fell in the first round to Wake Forest, 1-6.
Following the CUSA Championship game, MF Rachel DeRuby was awarded the tournament's Offensive MVP and GK Ainsley Leja was awarded the Defensive MVP. They were joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Saydie Holland and Allison Hansford.
The Lady Flames received a league-leading eight CUSA All-Conference selections on October 31. GK Leja and MF DeRuby were recognized as the Player of the Year at their positions.
Liberty's CUSA All-Conference first-team members included DeRuby and Leja, along with D Lena James, MF Saydie Holland and F Ivy Garner. D Bridie Herman received a spot on the second team. Forwards Allison Hansford and Ava Goodman were both named to the third team.
Sallie Garner, Avenley Monteith and Claire Valentine received recognition on the CUSA All-Freshman team.
Liberty finished the 2023 regular season with a 6-2 home record and an 8-0-1 road mark. The Lady Flames improved their road record to 9-0-1 after topping CUSA Championship host Louisiana Tech, 4-0, on Nov. 3.
Liberty currently owns the sixth best W-L-T percentage in the nation (.868). The percentage currently stands as a single-season best in program history and a career best for head coach Lang Wedemeyer.
GK Ainsley Leja has played every minute of the 2023 season. Leja leads CUSA and ranks No. 11 in the nation with 10 shutouts (tied).
As a team, Liberty led CUSA and ranks No. 33 (tied) nationally with a .526 shutout percentage.
Leja leads CUSA and ranks No. 16 in the nation with a 0.53 goals against average (GAA). She also led CUSA with a .831 save percentage She has made 49 saves.
The keeper owns the second-highest career GAA (0.57) among active Division l goalkeepers, trailing only Stanford's Ryan Campbell (0.48).
Leja matched her record of 10 shutouts recorded in 2022 on Nov. 3. She is on track to eclipse her previous school record 0.62 GAA for a season that she set in 2022.
Leja and the Liberty defense lead CUSA and rank ninth in the country having allowed 10 goals in 19 games this season. Outscoring their opponents 40-10, Liberty's goal differential of 30 currently ranks No. 16 in the country.
Following last Sunday's match, Rebekah Earnest is currently tied for the most games played in a Liberty uniform in program history (86). She tied Jaime Bouffard (2012-15). She will become the program leader once she steps on the field Friday.
Liberty led CUSA in the regular season and currently has 40 goals, 111 points, 15.16 shots per game and 7.68 shots on goal per game (No. 34 in country). The Lady Flames ranked second (tied) in CUSA and currently have 31 assists.
Rachel DeRuby leads the team with nine goals this season after scoring three goals in the CUSA Championship.
Holland follows behind with eight and Ava Goodman ranks third with six.
DeRuby leads the Liberty with 22 points (four assists), followed by Holland with 18 points (two assists) and Ivy Garner 14 points (five goals, four assists).
Holland leads Liberty and ranks No. 12 in the country with five game-winning goals. Goodman and Garner follow with four apiece.
Eleven different Lady Flames have scored a goal in 2023.
Four Lady Flames, DeRuby, Bridie Herman, Allison Hansford and Ivy Garner are tied for the Liberty lead and are third in CUSA with four assists apiece.

Schedule

Liberty Prepares for No. 4 Georgia in First Round of NCAA Tournament

Players Mentioned

Rachel DeRuby

Rebekah Earnest

Ivy Garner

Sallie Garner

Ava Goodman

Allison Hansford

Bridie Herman

Saydie Holland

Lena James

Ainsley Leja

Avenley Monteith

Claire Valentine