Lipscomb Routs Lady Flames Soccer 5-1

On a cold and windy day at Osborne Stadium, the Liberty women’s soccer team found itself trailing early in the first half against the Lipscomb Bisons. The Lady Flames never recovered from this deficit and lost 5-1 Friday.

The Lady Flames defense has become a vital piece of their success this season, allowing only one goal in their last five games. However, with the harsh weather conditions and wind speeds reaching 15 mph, the Lady Flames struggled to keep the Bisons off the scoreboard.

“We didn’t manage it very well – we weren’t very intelligent with playing into the wind,” Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer said. “The combination of the weather and Lipscomb’s competitive edge made it really hard on us in the first half.”

Within the first 17 minutes of the game, a series of Liberty defensive mistakes led to goals from three different Bisons players, with Molly Grant, Kelli Beiler and Alivia Carapazza all putting the ball past senior goalie Melody Jayroe to give Lipscomb a
3-0 lead.

“I give full credit to Lipscomb. They came ready to play,” Wedemeyer said. “They took advantage of our mistakes early on in the game and capitalized on them and that really put us in a hole right from the beginning.”

By the end of the first half, the Bisons had six shots on goal – compared to the Lady Flames’ two shots in total.

The second half brought an increase in urgency from the Lady Flames, however. In the 48th minute, the Lady Flames drew a foul a few yards outside of the box, giving junior Kasey Jamieson a free kick in a dangerous position. She duly took advantage, bending a shot into the upper left corner and reducing the Lady Flames deficit to two goals.

“I’ve been practicing on my free kicks and with the wind I just knew I had to hit it hard but still hit it low,” Jamieson said. “Once that happened, it definitely brought some energy to our team. We just needed to capitalize in the next five minutes, but unfortunately, we didn’t.”

As momentum began to fizzle out for the Lady Flames, the Bisons continued their pressure, with Shelby Craft adding a goal with a lob over Jayroe’s head in the 71st minute. When a cross came in from the left and Kammy McGee nodded home for five, the game was finally beyond Liberty’s grasp. 

After the tough loss to the Bisons, the Lady Flames regrouped and traveled to the Bill Jones Athletic Complex in Florence, Alabama, to face the University of North Alabama March 21, a game in which the teams tied 1-1.

Emmanuel Adamson is a Social Media Manager. Follow him on Twitter at @Eadamson12.