11/12/2026 2:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer
LYNCHBURG, VA. – The No. 5 seed Liberty Flames will travel to Greensboro, N.C., to meet the No. 3 seed UNCG Spartans in the SoCon Championship Game Saturday at UNCG Soccer Complex. The winner will not only capture the conference crown but also earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament field. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Liberty (7-7-3) advanced to the SoCon Championship game by defeating No. 1 seed and two-time defending SoCon Champion Furman 3-2 last Sunday in Greenville, S.C. Playing a man down and the score tied 2-2, Flames midfielder Lachlan Middleton scored the game-winning goal during the 79th minute to propel Liberty to a 3-2 victory. It was Furman's first home loss in 18 games.
UNCG (7-2-9) advanced to the title game by defeating No. 2 seed Wofford 1-0 last Sunday. The Spartans will be making their second straight appearance in the conference championship game.
Liberty News & Notes
Liberty (7-7-3) advanced to the SoCon Championship game by defeating No. 1 seed and two-time defending SoCon Champion Furman 3-2 last Sunday in Greenville, S.C. Playing a man down and the score tied 2-2, Flames midfielder Lachlan Middleton scored the game-winning goal during the 79th minute to propel Liberty to a 3-2 victory. It was Furman's first home loss in 18 games.
UNCG (7-2-9) advanced to the title game by defeating No. 2 seed Wofford 1-0 last Sunday. The Spartans will be making their second straight appearance in the conference championship game.
Liberty News & Notes
- Liberty will make its first appearance in 13 years in a conference championship game on Saturday. The Flames have not been in a title game since falling to Coastal Carolina 2-0 in the Big South Championship on Nov. 17, 2013.
- The last time that Liberty won a conference championship was in 2011. The Flames defeated Gardner-Webb 3-1 to claim the Big South title on Nov. 13, 2011.
- During the regular season, UNCG defeated Liberty 2-1 in Greensboro, N.C. on Sept. 19.
- Liberty has scored as many goals as it has allowed this season. The Flames have scored 29 goals and allowed 29 goals.
- After recording 33 shot attempts in their previous two games, the Flames had seven shots in their win at Furman on Sunday. Liberty will enter Saturday's match, averaging 14.9 shots per game in 2026, while limiting their opponents to 9.7 shots per game.
- Liberty forward Samson Kpardeh and midfielder Javan Ochieng were named to the 2026 SoCon All-Conference first team, while forward Ronnie Gorman was selected to the 2026 SoCon All-Conference second team.
- Goncalo Sousa and Pablo Matavele each scored his third goal of the season Sunday at Furman, while Middleton's game-winner was his second goal of the season.
- Kpardeh leads the Flames in scoring, with nine goals for 18 points on the season. He has scored at least one goal in seven games of the nine games he has played in this season.
- Kpardeh enters the weekend leading the SoCon in points per game, averaging 2.0 points per game. The forward is also tied for second in the conference in goals.
- Gorman became the first player this season to score three goals in a match in the Flames' 5-0 win over VMI to close the regular season on Oct. 30. The midfielder is second on Liberty in scoring with four goals and five assists for 13 points on the year.
- Gorman leads the Flames and is tied for second in the SoCon with five assists.
- Liberty goalkeeper Dan Rose made three stops during the shootout at ETSU last Thursday, including on the Buccaneers' final shot to seal the Flames' advancement on penalty kicks, and this past Sunday, made three important saves in Liberty's win at Furman. Rose has started 15 games this season. The sophomore played the full 90 minutes or more in 14 of Liberty's 17 matches in 2026. Rose has posted a 1.70 goals-against and a .583 save percentage over 1325 minutes.
- Defender Kyohei Eguchi is the only Flame to see action in all 17 games this season. Meanwhile, defender Roope Salo has the most starts. He has started 16 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.
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