Liberty to Host VMI in Key SoCon Match to Close Regular Season Friday

LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Liberty Flames will host the VMI Keydets in an important SoCon match Friday to close out their regular season. The match between the Flames (5-7-2, 2-3 SoCon) and the Keydets (5-11-1, 1-4 SoCon) will help decide seedings and pairings for next week's SoCon Men's Soccer Championship. Kickoff at Osborne Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Liberty enters the match off a 2-1 victory over Oral Roberts in its final non-conference match of the 2026 regular season this past Tuesday. Meanwhile, VMI defeated Mercer 4-2 in SoCon play this past Saturday.

Liberty News & Notes

Liberty moved to 3-1 at Osborne Stadium with its win over Oral Roberts on Tuesday. The Flames have won three straight games at home.
Friday's match will be the final regular-season and SoCon contest for both teams. Liberty enters the game with the possibility of finishing anywhere from third to sixth in the conference standings.
Liberty has been outscored by its opponents, 25-19 on the season. The Flames are averaging 12.9 shots per game, while limiting their opponents to 9.7 shots per game.
On Tuesday, Javan Ochieng and Samson Kpardeh each scored goals in Liberty's 2-1 victory over Oral Roberts. Kpardeh came off the bench to score the game-winning goal during the 86^th minute.
After missing the previous eight games due to injury, Kpardeh returned to game action. Liberty's leading scorer netted his seventh goal of the season and amassed his 14^th point. Kpardeh has scored at least one goal in each of the six games he has played in this season.
Liberty midfielder Ronnie Gorman has recorded four assists this season to lead the Flames. Gorman is tied for fifth in the SoCon.
Liberty goalkeeper Dan Rose has started and played the full 90 in 12 of Liberty's 14 matches this season. Rose has posted a 1.75 goals-against and a .588 save percentage over 1080 minutes. He also has two shutouts this season.
Ochieng scored his first goal of the season for the Flames on Tuesday. The midfielder was called up to the Kenya National Team at the end of September and made his first appearance with the team this month.
Midfielder Kyohei Eguchi is the only Flame to see action in all 14 games this season. Meanwhile, defender Roope Salo has the most starts. He has started 13 games.
The Flames have players from 13 different countries and six different continents.
Liberty head coach Scott Wells is in his first season with the Flames. He previously coached at Gardner-Webb, leading the Runnin' Bulldogs to the Big South Conference Championship in 2024.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Kyohei Eguchi

Ronnie Gorman

Samson Kpardeh

Javan Ochieng

Dan Rose

Roope Salo

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