Lynchburg, Va. - After a highly contested first half of play, the visiting Tribe of William & Mary scored twice in the second half after Liberty went down a man, defeating the Flames, 2-0, Friday evening at Osborne Stadium.

The setback was the first for Liberty, this season. The Flames fall to 2-1 on the year. It was also the first time in 2016 the Liberty attack has been held scoreless. The Tribe moves to 2-1.

After a first half which saw the two teams combine for three shots, the Flames two and the Tribe one, Liberty midfielder Kevin Mendoza was sent off after picking up his second yellow card of the game during the 47th minute, causing Liberty to play with 10 during the final 43 minutes of play.

William & Mary broke through for the non-conference match's first goal during the 61stminute. Forward Ryder Bell inserted the ball into the 18-yard box with a long pass from the right sideline at the left post. There, midfielder Reeves Trott headed the ball into the right corner of the net for his second goal of the year and a 1-0 Tribe lead.

Three minutes later, midfielder Antonio Bustamante scored his first goal of the season, bending a free kick from 20 yards out on the left side of the field into the top of the net for what proved to be the final score of 2-0 at 63:48.

Later in the half, Liberty was able to organize its attack to force two William & Mary fouls within 25 yards of the goal.  Once in the 70th minute and once in the 84th minute, a shot attempt off the free kick by midfielder Pepe Segarra was wide of the net.

William and Mary collected 11 shots in the second half to outshoot Liberty, 12-4, in the contest. The Tribe also held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.

James Knoebel made several solid stops in goal for the Flames. The freshman from Warren, Va., made four saves, while playing all 90 minutes in Liberty net. Tribe goalkeeper Phil Breno recorded one save.

Liberty next travels to Spartansburg, S.C., for a non-conference match against the USC Upstate Spartans. Kickoff at County University Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2014, when the Flames defeated the Spartans, 3-1, at the Jack Sculley Memorial Tournament at VMI's Patchin Field on Sept. 14, 2014. Liberty won its only road game of the year 5-2 over VMI at Patchin Field, this past Tuesday.

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