No. 1 Seed Liberty Aims to Defend CUSA Title in Delaware

LYNCHBURG, Va. – On the heels of clinching the 2026 Conference USA Regular Season title, No. 1 seed Liberty (14-2-2, 7-0-1 CUSA) sets its sights on the 2026 CUSA Championship in Delaware starting on Sunday. The Lady Flames will meet No. 8 seed Sam Houston on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Liberty looks to repeat last year's title run with three wins in six days, this time in Newark, Del., instead of playing at home in last season's championship tournament.

The Lady Flames closed the season with an unbeaten CUSA record (7-0-1) and a 13-game unbeaten streak (12-0-1). Liberty's defense carved the way, allowing just a single goal across eight CUSA contests.

The 2026 CUSA Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by Delaware beginning on Nov. 8. The final is set for noon ET on Friday, Nov. 14. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+. For tickets, please visit BlueHens.com.

Wedemeyer's Winning Ways

Liberty is currently on a 13-game unbeaten streak (12-0-1). Its last loss this season was a 2-0 loss at Pitt (Aug. 27).
The Lady Flames carry a 23-game unbeaten streak against CUSA opponents. Its last regular-season loss was against FIU on Sept. 27, 2024. The stretch currently ranks as the fifth-longest among Division l programs.
Liberty's winning percentage (14-2-2, .833) ranks as the seventh-best in Division l.
Back at Osborne Stadium, Liberty concluded the regular season with a 15-game winning streak at home, the longest in Division l. The streak includes three CUSA championship games from last season.
Liberty (14-2-2, .833) is on pace for one of its best seasons in program history. Under Wedemeyer, the Lady Flames' best season was in 2023, when Liberty compiled a 16-3-1 (.825) record on the way to its first CUSA Championship title.
Wedemeyer (278-175-65, .599) has recorded at least 10 wins in each of the last six seasons and has had a winning record in 14 consecutive seasons between coaching South Dakota State (2013-16) and Liberty (2017-Present).
He has coached Liberty to a 117-52-26 (.667) record since taking over in 2017.

Playing Keep(er) Away

Liberty has recorded a Division I-leading 12 shutouts this season (tied with Auburn and Villanova), led by goalkeeper Ainsley Leja (12-1-2) with eight.
Liberty has allowed only a single goal in CUSA action in eight games.
Leja ranks No. 1 among active goalkeepers in Division I with a career 0.63 GAA and No. 3 with 29 career shutouts.
Leja sports season averages of a 0.45 goals-against average (GAA) and an .841 save percentage. Her GAA ranks No. 10 among Division l goalkeepers.

Among Liberty Leaders

Halle Engle ranks No. 3 in program history in three categories
Goals: 1. Nancy Davis (43), 2. Ivy Garner (34), 3. Halle Engle (29)
Points: 1. Nancy Davis (106), 2. Ivy Garner (91), 3. Halle Engle (77)
Game-Winning goals: 1. Gabrielle Farrar (17), 2. Ivy Garner (15), 3. Halle Engle (13)
Ainsley Leja ranks in program history:
First in goals-against average (0.63): 2. Holly Van Noord (Liberty Hall of Fame) (0.80), 3. Melody Jayroe (1.19)
Second in shutouts: 1. Holly Van Noord (41) 2. Ainsley Leja (29), 3. Melody Jayroe (27)

All-Conference Crew

Liberty led all teams with 12 individuals recognized with CUSA Postseason honors, including four superlative award winners.
CUSA Player of the Year: Halle Engle
CUSA Defensive Player of the Year: Lauren Littleton
CUSA Goalkeeper of the Year: Ainsley Leja
CUSA Coach of the Year: Lang Wedemeyer
CUSA All-Conference first team: Halle Engle, Lauren Littleton, Ainsley Leja
CUSA All-Conference second team: Avenley Monteith, Haley Noblit, Isabella Wedemyer, Sallie Garner, Avery Paulson
CUSA All-Conference third team: Margaret Garner. Maddyson Kerley
CUSA All-Freshman team: Audrey Heustis

Lady Flames News & Notes

Liberty is currently in the receiving votes (TBD) category of the United Soccer Coaches/IWSOC Weekly Coaches Poll. Liberty previously sported a national ranking (No. 23) for the second time in program history earlier this season.
The Lady Flames check in at No. 19 in the latest RPI rankings (Nov. 3).
Liberty has been the highest-ranked team in the South Region since Sept. 8.
Liberty was awarded its sixth consecutive CUSA Defensive Player of the Week award on Tuesday. They are the first CUSA team to receive six consecutive Player of the Week awards in the same category, sweeping the honor across the CUSA conference schedule
Liberty checks in to the CUSA Championship as the No. 1 seed for the first time since joining the league in 2023. The Lady Flames have been the No. 2 seed in each championship appearance despite having two CUSA Regular Season titles in 2024 and 2025.
Liberty earned its first outright CUSA Regular Season title, despite it being their third instance of receiving the award. Previously, the team was co-regular season champions with FIU (2024) and Western Kentucky (2025).
The Lady Flames are paced by Halle Engle on the attack with seven goals and five game-winning tallies while adding three assists.
Engle has 13 career game-winning goals, ranking within the top-10 of active career leaders in Division l and No. 9 with five this season.
Midfielder Avenly Monteith leads the team with four assists while also adding three goals.
Four Lady Flames, Monteith, Margaret Garner, Izzie Smulik and Isabella Wedemeyer, have each totaled three goals this season.
Liberty is outscoring its opponents 28-10 this season and 12-1 in CUSA action.
The Lady Flames have accumulated the third-fewest yellow cards among Division I programs.

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Players Mentioned

Halle Engle

Ivy Garner

Margaret Garner

Sallie Garner

Audrey Heustis

Maddyson Kerley

Ainsley Leja

Lauren Littleton

Avenley Monteith

Haley Noblit

Avery Paulson

Izzie Smulik

Isabella Wedemeyer

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