CLEMSON, S.C. (Interstat) — The Clemson Lady Tigers delivered an upset on Friday night, defeating the Liberty Lady Flames 2-1 in an NCAA women’s soccer match at Historic Riggs Field.

The result defied pregame projections, as Interstat’s game simulator had forecast a 2-0 victory for Liberty, which was also given a 52 percent probability to win by the same service’s ELO rating system. Instead, Clemson improved its record to 5-4-4 while Liberty, which entered the match on a five-game winning streak, fell to 11-3-2.

A crowd of 532 saw the Lady Tigers secure the victory with goals from two unlikely sources: forward Taylor Leib and defender Elle Bissinger. Neither player recorded a minute in the match, indicating their goals were scored directly from set-piece situations or immediately following them.

Clemson opened the scoring in the first half. The sequence involved a trio of Lady Tigers, with defender Neely Kerr and midfielder Renee Lyles each credited with an assist on the play that led to Bissinger’s goal from the back line.

The Lady Tigers doubled their lead later with a goal from Leib. The forward was set up by an assist from teammate Juju Harris, another forward.

Liberty managed to find the net for a lone goal, preventing a shutout but unable to complete a comeback against the Clemson defense.

The match was characterized by frequent substitutions, with both benches making heavy use of their rosters. The first change came from Clemson in the 19th minute, replacing Reese Klein. A flurry of activity occurred around the 30-minute mark and again at halftime, which saw a total of eight players substituted, including Clemson’s goal-scorers Leib and Bissinger.

The loss halted a dominant run for Liberty. The Lady Flames had been in impressive form, outscoring their opponents 13-1 over their previous five matches, including a 3-0 win over Missouri State on Nov. 7. Their last defeat before Friday was a 3-2 loss to Kansas on Sept. 14.

For Clemson, the victory provided a positive result after a mixed stretch of conference play. The Lady Tigers had most recently fallen 3-2 to Duke on Oct. 30 but had also recorded notable results earlier in the season, including a draw against then-Stanford on Sept. 11. The win over a surging Liberty squad marks a significant boost for the team as it moves forward in its schedule.