Liberty Heads to Furman For SoCon Semifinals

LYNCHBURG, VA. – Fresh off advancing in the SoCon Men's Soccer Championship on penalty kicks, 3-1, Thursday at No. 4 seed East Tennessee, the No. 5 seed Liberty Flames will travel to Greensville, S.C., for a semifinal match against the No. 1 seed Furman Paladins on Sunday. The contest at Stone Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The winner will advance to play the winner of the No. 3 seed UNCG Spartans and No. 2 seed Wofford Terriers in the SoCon Championship game on either Nov. 13 or 14.

After playing to a 2-2 tie during regulation and overtime, the Flames advanced to the semifinals by taking the shootout 3-1. Liberty goalkeeper Dan Rose stopped three shots during the shootout to help the Flames advance.

During regulation, forward Samson Kpardeh scored both of Liberty's goals. The SoCon All-Conference first-team member converted a penalty kick and scored on a breakaway.

Liberty News & Notes

Thursday, Liberty had a tournament game go to a shootout for the first time since 2023. The last time, the Flames failed to advance in a shootout against Eastern Illinois at the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Nov. 5, 2023.
The Flames had not advanced in a conference tournament on penalty kicks since 2011. Liberty advanced on penalty kicks 5-4 against Radford in the Big South Men's Soccer Tournament on Nov. 10, 2011.
Liberty edged Furman 1-0 at Osborne Stadium during the regular season on Sept. 26.
The Flames had 33 shot attempts for the second consecutive match. Liberty outshot ETSU, 33-12, on Thursday. The Flames had 33 in 90 minutes in a 5-0 win over VMI in its final game of the regular season last Friday. Yesterday, they had the same number over 110 minutes.
Liberty has been outscored by its opponents, 27-26 this season. The Flames enter Sunday's match, averaging 15.4 shots per game, while limiting their opponents to 9.4 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.
Kpardeh scored both of Liberty's goals during regulation on Thursday. Despite missing eight games due to injury, 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 eight games he has played in this season.
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 last Friday. The midfielder is second on Liberty in scoring with four goals and four assists for 12 points on the year.
Gorman and fellow midfielder Javan Ochieng are tied for the Liberty lead and are sixth in the SoCon with four assists each. The two were joined by Manuel Vitorino on Thursday. Vitorino sprang Kpardeh for a one-on-one scoring chance with a pass to record his fourth assist of the season.
Liberty goalkeeper Dan Rose made three stops during the shootout at ETSU on Thursday, including on the Buccaneers' final shot to seal the Flames' advancement on penalty kicks. Rose has started 14 games this season. The sophomore has played the full 90 minutes or more in 13 of Liberty's 16 matches in 2026. Rose has posted a 1.68 goals-against and a .582 save percentage over 1235 minutes.
Midfielder Kyohei Eguchi is the only Flame to see action in all 16 games this season. Meanwhile, defender Roope Salo has the most starts. He has started 15 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

Manuel Vitorino

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