GREENSBORO, N.C. — UNC Greensboro fell 1-0 to Liberty on its home field Saturday night in the Southern Conference men’s soccer championship match, with a second-half goal sending the visiting Flames to the NCAA tournament instead of the Spartans.
Sophomore forward Samson Kpardeh broke the scoreless tie in the 69th minute, sliding a shot inside the left post off feeds from Ronnie Gorman and Lachlan Middleton. It was his third goal of the league tournament and his 10th in 10 games this fall, and he was voted the event’s most valuable player.
Third-seeded UNCG spent much of the night under pressure. Fifth-seeded Liberty fired 11 shots before halftime, and Spartans goalkeeper Seth Wilson, the conference’s top keeper this season, turned away two Kpardeh chances on diving stops. Wilson finished with five saves.
A crowd of 1,252 watched the final. Liberty also held an 8-5 edge in corner kicks, and the winning goal came at 69:38 on the official clock.
The Spartans generated six shots of their own but put just one on target, a 23rd-minute try by Bendix Bennetzen. The defeat was only the second home loss of the season for UNCG, which now sits at 7-3-9.
Wilson, Tiago Campos and Trym Lindberg earned spots on the all-tournament team for the Spartans. Liberty, now 8-7-3, claimed the title in its first year as an associate member of the conference and took the league’s automatic NCAA bid, its first conference crown since 2011.
UNCG reached the NCAA Round of 16 a year ago. The Spartans will learn whether their season continues when the NCAA men’s soccer selection show airs Monday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m.
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