No. 9 Liberty to Face UAlbany (Home) and No. 2 UNC (Road) Over Weekend

LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 9-ranked Liberty will play two games this upcoming weekend, first taking on UAlbany at home for Senior Night, followed by a road showdown with No. 2 North Carolina.

The Lady Flames will face the UAlbany Great Danes on Friday evening at 7 p.m. It will be Senior Night for the program on Friday. Prior to the contest, the program will honor its two graduating seniors – Lou Combrinck and Anna Miller. On Sunday, Liberty and North Carolina will meet in a top-10 showdown at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game time is noon.

Liberty brings a 3-0 record into the weekend, having won its first two home games last week. The Lady Flames defeated James Madison 4-1 in the home opener on Wednesday, followed by a 4-2 triumph over Richmond last Sunday. Liberty moved up eight spots in this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.

UAlbany carries a 3-1 mark into Friday's match with Liberty. The Great Danes suffered their first loss of the season this past Sunday, a 3-0 home setback to Columbia. UAlbany started the season as the No. 18-ranked team in the country and is currently unranked. North Carolina brings a perfect 4-0 mark into the weekend and will host Appalachian State on Friday night prior to welcoming Liberty. UNC held steady at the No. 2 spot in this week's national poll, behind only No. 1 Northwestern (4-0).

Lady Flames News and Notes

Sophomore forward Josefina Tomasi was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday by the league office. Sophomore defender Dara Semmartin earned her second straight BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honor as well. Liberty has received both the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week (last week Lou Combrinck) and BIG EAST Defensive player of the Week in back-to-back weeks to open the season.
Tomasi, paced Liberty in points (6) and tied for the team lead with two goals while adding two assists in two games last week. Her highlight-reel fourth quarter goal against JMU was featured on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 plays listing as the No. 3 play. Semmartin paced the Lady Flames with four assists in two games and helped slow down the JMU and Richmond offenses.
Liberty and UAlbany will be meeting for the second time. The two squads squared off for the first time in 2024, a 4-2 Great Danes home win. The Lady Flames' goal scorers in that game were Tuti Dell Anna and Martu Cian.
The Lady Flames and North Carolina Tar Heels will be playing each other for the 12th time. UNC holds a 9-2 edge in the all-time series. However, both Liberty wins have come on the road at Karen Shelton Stadium in the last four years. In 2023, Liberty defeated No. 1 North Carolina 2-1 in double overtime behind a Martu Cian game winner. To this day, Liberty is still the only team to ever win twice at Karen Shelton Stadium, a facility that opened in 2018. The Lady Flames also bested the Tar Heels 4-0 in Chapel Hill during the fall 2021 season, UNC's first-ever loss at Karen Shelton Stadium.
Liberty is ranked No. 9 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll. The Lady Flames were ranked 17th in the preseason poll. Liberty, up eight spots, experienced the biggest jump of any team in the rankings from preseason (Aug. 26) to week 1 (Tuesday). This is Liberty's highest national ranking since closing the 2023 campaign at No. 7 (Nov. 7, 2023).
As a team, the Lady Flames rank in the top 10 in the nation in four statistical categories through three matches: assists per game (No. 4, 4.00), points per game (No. 8, 12.00), goals per game (No. 9, 4.00) and scoring average (No. 10, 4.00). Liberty paces the BIG EAST in all four categories.
Semmartin is currently No. 4 in the country in assists per game (1.25) and 24th in points per game (2.33). Combrinck is No. 9 nationally in assists per game (1.33) and 15th in points per game (2.67). Tomasi ranks 15th in the country in points per game (2.67) and 16th in goals per game (1.00).
Liberty's lone road game so far this year resulted in a dramatic 4-3 comeback win over No. 5 Duke, Aug. 29. The Lady Flames trailed 3-0 in the second quarter to the Blue Devils before scoring four unanswered goals for the win. Combrinck tallied the game winner in the 56th minute. The victory marked Liberty's highest-ranked win to open a season in program history and its sixth top-five victory all-time.

Schedule

No. 9 Liberty to Face UAlbany (Home) and No. 2 UNC (Road) Over Weekend

Players Mentioned

Martu Cian

Lou Combrinck

Tuti Dell Anna

Anna Miller

Dara Semmartin

Josefina Tomasi