The Lady Lions’ spirit and energy never wavered, coach Lincoln Post said after the state tournament game.
LBHS can’t recover from early deficit
Senior Aden Jones scored one LBHS goal.
By Don Nelson
For the second consecutive year, Crosspoint Academy of Bremerton ended the Liberty Bell High School girls’ soccer team’s season — this time with a 4-2 victory over the Lady Lions in the first round of the state tournament on Saturday (Nov. 14).
In 2014, Crosspoint defeated Liberty Bell, 5-1, in the state championship game at Sumner. This year, the Lady Lions took a long bus ride to South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard for the first-round match.
Coach Lincoln Post said Liberty Bell played tough to the end and “the teams were not as far apart as the score indicates.”
“We made up some ground and played with heart to the end,” the coach said. “But it just wasn’t our day.”
The game started well for the Lady Lions, Post said. “We came out really strongly, dominating play and possession,” he said.
Anna Post looked on as goalkeeper Lauren Ochoa made a stop.
But then Crosspoint scored two goals in quick succession on long, powerful shots. “All of a sudden, we’re down 2-0 and kind of in shock,” Post said.
Another Crosspoint goal sent Liberty Bell into halftime trailing 3-0. “We came out hopeful in the second half,” Post said. Cassidy Butler scored a quick goal to close the gap, which Crosspoint answered to push their advantage to 4-1.
Sally Thornton-White, left, and Hannah Weymuller were in pursuit.
Liberty Bell wasn’t done. Aden Jones scored a goal for the Lady Lions, and Liberty Bell put a lot of pressure on Crosspoint in the final 15 minutes but could not manage to draw closer.
“Nobody gave up. But we just ran out of time,” Post said. “We dug too deep a hole to recover, but I don’t think we were overmatched.”
Haley Post showed her all-league form.
Crosspoint “didn’t have a lot of shots, but they were beautiful shots,” the coach said.
Post praised the Lady Lions’ progress through the season that brought them to the state tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
“I’m proud of how well they did and I hope they are too,” Post said.
Exchange student Erika Komatsu got some leg into a kick.
The coach said he’s “very hopeful for next year.”
“We have a lot of returning players, and our young players had a fantastic learning curve,” Post said.
Liberty Bell will lose Jones and Claire Waichler to graduation. Foreign exchange student Erika Komatsu will return home to Japan.
Lady Lions win all-league honors
Six Liberty Bell High School girls’ soccer players were named to all-league teams for the 2015 season:
• Lauren Ochoa, first-team goalkeeper.
• Haley Post, first-team defender
• Aden Jones, first-team offense
• Cassidy Butler, first-team offense
• Anna Post, second-team defense
• Hannah Weymuller, second-team offense
