Liberty clinches first-ever USL W League playoff berth
Updated: 10:15 PM EDT Jun 28, 2022
The Greenville Liberty clinched its first-ever USL W League playoff berth & concluded a perfect home regular season Tuesday night at Legacy Early College with a 5-1 thumping of Asheville City in front of the club’s second-largest crowd of the season. Tuesday night’s inaugural regular season home opener began differently than any other match this season. Just 35 seconds into the match Asheville City center back, Roisin McGovern, is issued a red card after grabbing the jersey of Julie Mackin and pulling her to the ground, denying her a goal scoring opportunity. After the foul, Asheville was forced to play almost the entirety of the match down a player. Shortly after McGovern was dismissed, Greenville finished what it started earlier, and Carly Thatcher scores the first Liberty goal. In the 22nd minute, a cross from Christian Brathwaite flew across the face of the goal resulting in an own goal from Asheville. Ten minutes later, Caroline Conti attempted a cross that pinged off the side bar into the net to put the Liberty up 3-0 headed into the half.Greenville substitutions at the start of second half kept the momentum on the home side, as the club continued to press the shorthanded Asheville defense. Despite letting in an own goal to put Asheville on the board, the Liberty continued to dominate the match. Just two minutes after the own goal, Greenville countered with a second-effort goal from Julie Mackin to return the lead to three and keep the home side in the driver’s seat. The Liberty’s Maddie Turlington added an exclamation point on the evening with a fifth goal for the club just before stoppage time. As the whistle blew, the Liberty capped their home schedule with a perfect 6-0 record and clinched the club’s first-ever South Atlantic division title and playoff berth.The Liberty will now hit the road for two more regular season matches, taking the short trip up to Charlotte to face the Independence on Saturday, June 2nd. The club will look to improve its playoff seeding in Charlotte and the regular season finale on July 9th at Wake FC.
The Greenville Liberty clinched its first-ever USL W League playoff berth & concluded a perfect home regular season Tuesday night at Legacy Early College with a 5-1 thumping of Asheville City in front of the club’s second-largest crowd of the season.
Tuesday night’s inaugural regular season home opener began differently than any other match this season. Just 35 seconds into the match Asheville City center back, Roisin McGovern, is issued a red card after grabbing the jersey of Julie Mackin and pulling her to the ground, denying her a goal scoring opportunity. After the foul, Asheville was forced to play almost the entirety of the match down a player. Shortly after McGovern was dismissed, Greenville finished what it started earlier, and Carly Thatcher scores the first Liberty goal. In the 22nd minute, a cross from Christian Brathwaite flew across the face of the goal resulting in an own goal from Asheville. Ten minutes later, Caroline Conti attempted a cross that pinged off the side bar into the net to put the Liberty up 3-0 headed into the half.
Greenville substitutions at the start of second half kept the momentum on the home side, as the club continued to press the shorthanded Asheville defense. Despite letting in an own goal to put Asheville on the board, the Liberty continued to dominate the match. Just two minutes after the own goal, Greenville countered with a second-effort goal from Julie Mackin to return the lead to three and keep the home side in the driver’s seat. The Liberty’s Maddie Turlington added an exclamation point on the evening with a fifth goal for the club just before stoppage time. As the whistle blew, the Liberty capped their home schedule with a perfect 6-0 record and clinched the club’s first-ever South Atlantic division title and playoff berth.
The Liberty will now hit the road for two more regular season matches, taking the short trip up to Charlotte to face the Independence on Saturday, June 2nd. The club will look to improve its playoff seeding in Charlotte and the regular season finale on July 9th at Wake FC.