Liberty Visits HCU, UIW to Close Out Regular Season

LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Liberty Flames men's soccer team travels to Texas for key Ohio Valley Conference matches against the Houston Christian Huskies and the Incarnate Word Cardinals to close out their 2025 regular season this weekend.

Liberty enters the final week of the regular season with a 4-1-3 OVC record and 15 conference points, two points ahead of Houston Christian, which is 4-3-1 in the OVC and has 13 points, for second place in the conference standings. The second-place finisher receives a bye into the semifinals of the 2025 OVC Men's Soccer Tournament.

Liberty (8-3-5 overall) and Houston Christian (9-5-1 overall) will meet on Thursday night at Sorrels Field in Houston, Texas, with second place in the OVC on the line. Match time is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. With a victory, the Flames would lock up second place in the conference standings. The Huskies would move into second place in the OVC standings by one point with one game to play with a victory. Houston Christian defeated Liberty 1-0 in Lynchburg earlier this season.

Sunday, Liberty will square off with Incarnate Word (0-5-3 OVC, 4-7-5 overall) in the regular season finale for both teams. Game time at Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium in San Antonio, Texas, is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. The Flames defeated the Cardinals 2-1 in Lynchburg earlier this season.


   Liberty News & Notes

The Flames will enter Thursday's match at HCU on a five-game unbeaten streak. Liberty has posted a 2-0-3 mark over its last five contests.
Liberty closed out its home schedule with a 2-1 victory over SIUE in OVC play this past Saturday. Leo Conneh and Ben Carman each scored a goal for the Flames in the victory.
The Flames finished the season with a 7-2-1 record at home, outscoring their opponents, 26-9, at Osborne Stadium.
The Flames have outscored their opponents, 35-22, so far this season. Liberty is second in the OVC and eighth nationally in goals scored.
Liberty enters Thursday's contest 17^th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 2.19 goals per game.
11 Flames have scored at least one goal this season and six have scored three or more goals.
Zach Lifferth leads the OVC and the Flames with eight goals. In addition, the senior leads Liberty and is second in the OVC with 18 points (8 goals, 2 assists).
Leo Conneh, who scored his sixth goal of the season on Saturday, has scored a goal in three of the last four games. The junior forward has scored a career-high six goals and tallied a career-high 14 points (6 goals, 2 assists) this season. Conneh enters the week tied for fourth in the OVC in goals scored and tied for sixth in points.
Defender Perry Blay assisted on Conneh's goal on Saturday to record his seventh assist of the season. Blay leads the Flames and is second in the OVC in assists.
Senior defender and captain Casey McCarthy leads Liberty's field players in minutes played, having played 1,421 minutes. Only Flames goalkeeper Tyler Beck has played more minutes than McCarthy.
Tyler Beck has played every minute in goal this season for the Flames. The sophomore has posted a 1.38 goals-against average and has a 0.690 save percentage over 1,440 minutes. Beck is currently fifth nationally in goalkeeper minutes played.
Head coach Kelly Findley is in his seventh season at Liberty. He has announced his retirement from coaching at the end of the 2025 season.

Schedule

Liberty Visits HCU, UIW to Close Out Regular Season

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Beck

Perry Blay

Ben Carman

Leo Conneh

Zach Lifferth

Casey McCarthy