Liberty Opens SoCon Play at UNCG Saturday

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames men's soccer team will travel to Greensboro, N.C., to face the UNCG Spartans (2-1-4) in their first-ever Southern Conference match Saturday. After three years in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Flames joined the SoCon this season.

Liberty (2-3-1) fell 3-2 at Virginia this past Saturday. After scoring the game's first goal, the Flames later had to battle back to cut their hosts' advantage to 3-2. However, Liberty was unable to find the equalizer.

Liberty is in the middle of a five-game road swing. The Flames have started off the road swing with a 1-1-1 mark.

Liberty News & Notes

Liberty and UNCG will meet in a non-conference match in Lynchburg last season. The No. 21 Spartans defeated the Flames 3-1 on Sept. 19.
Liberty has played five of its six games on the road this season, posting a 2-2-1 mark. The Flames are in the midst of a five-game road swing, which is the second-most road matches in a row for any NCAA Division I team in 2026.
The Flames are averaging 12.8 shots per game, while limiting their opponents to 9.0 shots per game. Liberty has been outscored by its opponents, 12-10.
Forward Samson Kpardeh is third in the nation and leads the Southern Conference with six goals. The forward is also third in the country and the SoCon leader, averaging 1.20 goals per game.
Kpardeh is also 12th nationally and the conference leader with 12 points. In addition, he is fifth in the country, averaging 2.40 points per game and fourth nationally in shots on goal with 2.40 shots on target per match.
Midfielder Ronnie Gorman is second on the Flames in scoring with five points. He scored a goal in Liberty's 2-1 at American on Sept. 6 and has a team-leading three assists.
With three assists, Gorman is tied for the SoCon lead with several others.
Liberty midfielder Javan Ochieng and forward Pablo Matavele each have two assists on the year, tying them for second in the SoCon in the category with several other players.
This past weekend, Goncarlo Sousa and Kyohei Eguchi each scored their first goal of the season at Virginia. Sousa also assisted on Eguchi's goal for a three-point game.
Dan Rose has been the Liberty goalkeeper for every match this season. The goalkeeper has posted a 2.00 goals-against average and a .556 save percentage over the six games.
The Flames were picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Poll. Their opponent Saturday, UNCG, was selected to finish second.
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

Liberty Opens SoCon Play at UNCG Saturday

Players Mentioned

Kyohei Eguchi

Ronnie Gorman

Samson Kpardeh

Pablo Matavele

Javan Ochieng

Dan Rose

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