No. 4 seed Liberty to host No. 5 seed Gardner-Webb in Big South Quarterfinal, Sunday

LIVE STATS

The No. 4 seed Liberty Flames will host the No. 5 seed Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in a Big South Quarterfinal match, Sunday at Osborne Stadium. Match time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The winner of the contest will advance to play No. 1 seed High Point at Vert Stadium in High Point, N.C. in a Big South semifinal on Wednesday.

Notables
• Liberty fell 4-2 to Radford, this past Wednesday at Osborne Stadium. Tresor Mbuyu and Kevin Mendoza each scored goals for the Flames.

• Liberty has outscored its opponents, 31-16, in 2017. The Flames enter Sunday's contest 25th nationally in scoring offense with a 1.94 goals per game average. Liberty also ranks 27th in total goals.

• The Flames finished the regular season with a 7-2 mark at Osborne Stadium. Liberty has outscored its opponents, 20-7, at home in 2017.

• After leading the Big South in goals-against average for most of the season, the Flames are now second in the conference. Liberty enters the Sunday's contest with a 0.98 team goals-against average.

• Liberty is tied with High Point for the Big South lead in shutouts with seven.

2017 Big South Men's Soccer Championship Schedule
Quarterfinals, Sunday, Nov. 5 (at Higher Seed)
Match 1: #5 Gardner-Webb at #4 Liberty, 2 p.m.
Match 2: #6 Presbyterian at #3 Campbell, 7 p.m.

Semifinals, Wenesday, Nov. 8 (at Higher Seed)
Match 3: Winner Match 1 at #1 High Point, 7 p.m.
Match 4: Winner Match 2 at #2 Radford, 7 p.m.

Finals, Sunday, Nov. 12 (at High Seed)
Match 5: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 2 p.m.

The Last Time They Met

The Flames began their Big South schedule with a 1-0 overtime win over Gardner-Webb at Osborne Stadium, the last time the two teams met.

The regular season meeting between the two teams on Sept. 29 saw the contest need extra time, as neither team was able to score during regulation.

Tresor Mbuyu scored his seventh goal of the year at 98:50 of overtime to give Liberty win. The shutout was the fourth of the season for the Flames, who held Gardner-Webb, the highest scoring offense in the nation at the time, to three shots during regulation.

Four Named to All-Conference team

Four Flames have been named to the 2017 Big South All-Conference team, as voted on by the conference's coaches.

Midfielder Kevin Mendoza and forward Tresor Mbuyu, were named to the Big South All-Conference first team, while defender Alex Dominguez and midfielder Pepe Segarra were selected to the all-conference second team.

For the second straight year, defender Nico Bellarde was named to Big South All-Academic team.

Liberty's All-time Marks in the Big South Championship
Since joing the Big South Conference for men's soccer in 1991, Liberty is 23-21-3 in Big South Championship matches.

Last season, No. 4 seed Liberty fell 2-1 to No. 5 seed Presbyterian at Osborne Stadium in the Big South Quarterfinals.

The Flames have reached the title game eight times in program history, winning the Big South crown twice in 2007 and 2011. Both conference titles have come under head coach Jeff Alder.

Liberty's most common opponent during the Big South Championship has been the Winthrop Eagles. The Flames have posted a 5-6-1 record against the Eagles during their 12 Big South Championship meetings.

Liberty has faced Radford the second most times, nine, in the tournament and has posted a 5-2-2 mark against the Highlanders.

The Flames have matched up with current Big South members UNC Asheville (4-0), High Point (3-1), Gardner-Webb (1-0), Longwood (1-0) and Presbyterian (0-1), along with former members Birmingham-Southern (1-2), Coastal Carolina (1-2), Charleston Southern (1-0), Elon (1-1), South Alabama (0-2) and UNCG (0-4) during the conference championship.

Defending Home Field

The Flames have posted a 7-2 record at Osborne Stadium, so far this season. Liberty has outscored its opponents, 20-7, at home.

No. 4 seed Liberty to host No. 5 seed Gardner-Webb in Big South Quarterfinal, Sunday

Related Videos