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Liberty University

Liberty University Athletics
1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502
Division 1 Virginia Northeast
Private Large Competitive team

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Lang Wedemeyer

Lang Wedemeyer has helmed the Liberty's Women's Soccer team for six seasons (2017-22), collecting a 62-39-15 record. Wedemeyer is a two-time ASUN Coach of the Year (2021, 22) and was selected as the VaSID Coach of the year in 2022. Wedemeyer and the Lady Flames secured their first-ever ASUN Championship title in the 2021 spring season. Wedemeyer's teams have steadily improved since taking over, achieving a .409 jump in win percentage from 2018.


Wedemeyer came to Liberty following a highly successful 17-year run as the head women's soccer coach at South Dakota State. During his time at the helm of the Jackrabbits' program, Wedemeyer led South Dakota State to four Summit League championships and trips to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship (2008, 2014, 2015 and 2016).


Wedemeyer guided the Lady Flames to a conference best 14-3-4 record (8-0-2 ASUN) in 2022. Liberty's season came to an end in the ASUN Championship with the No.1 seed Lady Flames falling in penalty kicks 1-1 (3-4) to FGCU. In 2022, Wedemeyer was awarded with the United Soccer Coaches Association Faith Based Coach of the Year. Liberty was honored with nine ASUN All-Conference team members including the ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year, Ainsley Leja, in addition to four being named to the All-Freshman team.


In the 2021 fall season, Wedemeyer led the Lady Flames to an 11-7-1 (6-3 ASUN). The Lady Flames' season ended in the ASUN Quarterfinals to Eastern Kentucky (1-0). Four Lady Flames earned All-Conference honors including Madison Ellis being selected to the first team.


Wedemeyer and the Lady Flames secured their first ever ASUN Championship title in the 2021 spring season (moved from 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic). Liberty earned a 7-6-5 record and topping four teams in the ASUN Championships including besting Kennesaw State 1-0 in OT to claim the title.


Wedemeyer became the Liberty’s head women’s soccer coach on Jan. 31, 2017, becoming the eighth in the program's history.

The 2019 season saw the squad come into form with Wedemeyer ushering the team to an 11-6-2 (6-2 ASUN) record. The Lady Flames season ended with a loss to NJIT in the ASUN Quarterfinals.


Wedemeyer's second season in 2018 saw more roster and schedule transition, the Lady Flames secured a 6-11 (5-3 ASUN) record. This was also the first season for Liberty in the Atlantic Sun conference. The Lady Flames faced tougher competition with the move to the ASUN in addition to adding Clemson, Virginia and LSU to make for an increasingly challenging schedule.


In his first seaon with the Liberty, Wedemeyer found quick success as he guided the squad to a 10-7-3 (7-1-1) Big South record. The season came to an end in the Big South Semifinals facing Longwood (2-0).


Under Wedemeyer, the Lady Flames are one of just 11 Division 1 teams to earn the United Soccer Coaches Sportsmanship and Ethics award.


Wedemeyer has his United Soccer Coaches Master of coaching Diploma, a U.S. Soccer "A" License, his NSCAA Premier diploma, an NSCAA Level 3 Goalkeeper diploma and a U.S. Youth Soccer National license. Throughout his coaching career, Wedemeyer has been around elite competition coaching against youth national teams in the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Belgium with ODP Regional teams.


South Dakota State Tenure


During his 17 seasons at South Dakota State, Wedemeyer posted a 161-123-39 record, including 10 seasons with 10 or more victories. During the Jackrabbits’ run of three-straight Summit League titles, South Dakota State has posed a 32-21-9 record the last three years.


In addition to four postseason championships, Wedemeyer guided South Dakota State to Summit League regular season titles in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Additionally, his squad captured a United Soccer Conference championship in 2006 prior to South Dakota State joining the Summit League in 2007.

Wedemeyer helped start the South Dakota State program in 2000 and guided the program through its transition to Division I in 2004. He has been honored for his coaching success, earning Summit League Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and 2014.


Additionally, he was named North Central Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 and South Dakota Sportswriters Women’s College Coach of the Year in 2008.


Wedemeyer has coached three Summit League Offensive Players of the Year and two Defensive Players of the Year. He also helped develop the skills of the 2012 Summit League Freshman of the Year.


Under his tutelage, 61 of Wedemeyer’s players have earned all-conference honors, including 27 first-team selections, 18 second-team honorees and 16 newcomers/freshman team members.


Wedemeyer’s teams have also had success in the classroom with his squads receiving the NSCAA Team Academic Award nine times (2006-07, 2009-14, 2016). Two of his former players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, while 10 players have earned CoSIDA All-District accolades.


In addition to his 17 years of service at South Dakota State, Wedemeyer has worked with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as a national staff coach, conducting coaching certification and running clinics over the past 20 years.


Wedemeyer at a Glance


Played professionally for seven years.

Wedeyemer has coached two All-Americans, 14 All-Region players, over 50 All-Conference players, eight Conference Players of the Year, and six players that have played professionally.

Four Summit League Championships, five Summit League Regular Season Titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances and one Big South Regular Season Title (2017).

Coached nine ASUN All Conference Selections, two All-South Region Selections, eight Big South All-Conference Selections (Time at Liberty).

187-148-44 Record

Wedemeyer, a native of Roanoke, Va., began his collegiate playing career at Virginia Tech where he was voted the Hokies top defensive player in 1991 and 1992. He finished out his career at Old Dominion where he served as a team captain and was a 1994 CoSIDA Academic All-America second-team honoree.


Wedemeyer is married to Tabitha Wedemeyer. The couple has four children, Brooks, Isabella, Caroline and Hunter.

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Maryanne Kilgore

Maryanne Kilgore joined the Liberty coaching staff in Feb. 2023.


After a five-year career at Western Carolina, Kilgore spent the 2022 season as an assistant coach at her alma mater. The Catamounts qualified for the Southern Conference tournament with a 4-4-1 conference mark before falling in the quarterfinals.


Kilgore played in 83 games during her Western Carolina career, starting 75, from 2017-21. The defender finished with nine career points, scoring three goals with three assists. For three seasons, the Jefferson, Georgia native served as a team captain for the Catamounts. She also was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team in 2017.


Kilgore earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Carolina in 2021. She earned inclusion on the SoCon Honor Roll every semester of her playing career. In addition, she was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for four years at Western Carolina and served as its president during the 2019-2020 academic year. She is pursuing a master’s degree in sports management from Western Carolina.


In 2021, Kilgore played in the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) for Asheville City 2021.


She has completed her USSF D license and plans on obtaining her NSCAA National diploma this summer.

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McKinley Burkett

Coach Lang Wedemeyer and the Liberty Women’s Soccer team announced the hiring of former Lady Flame McKinley Burkett as an assistant coach on August 16, 2023.


Burkett was a midfielder for three seasons at Liberty after transferring from Tennessee in 2021. She joins the Lady Flames coaching staff after graduating in 2022.


As a Lady Flame, Burkett played in 55 games and registered nine goals. In her first season, she helped guide the squad to its first ASUN Championship title in 2021 (spring). Burkett was named to the ASUN All-Conference first team in 2022 and the ASUN All-Conference second team in 2021 (Spring).


Burkett earned an ASUN All-Tournament team honor in the 2021 (spring) ASUN Championship for her accomplishments including netting the game-winning goal in overtime of the ASUN Championship to defeat Kennesaw State 1-0.


Burkett also had a stellar career in the classroom, earning a spot on the ASUN All-Academic team in 2022. Burkett was honored with the selection while enrolled in doctorate courses while pursuing an Executive Certificate in Strategic Leadership. She also posted a 3.83 GPA in earning her master’s degree in sport management from Liberty.


A Mosely, Va. native, Burkett for Richmond United in the UNCL and was a member of the ODP Virginia State team during her prep career. Burkett played at Tennessee from 2018-2020 where she played in 38 games, notching 14 points (four goals, six assists).

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