Liberty Bell goalkeeper Lucia Troyer made a diving stop as an unidentified Brewster player and the Mountain Lions’ Aria Covell tried to avoid contact.
First-round home match likely in post-season competition
Winning matches a team should win, and playing tough in contests against those who are higher ranked and more experienced, are keys to success in most team sports.
The Liberty Bell High School girls have been playing that brand of soccer so far this season, and their efforts have been rewarded with a climb to fourth place in the Central Washington B League and an apparent first-round home match in the CWB league tournament.
In the two weeks since Sept. 29, they have defeated Bridgeport’s Fillies twice, 3-0 and 4-0; lost a heartbreaking 1-0 match to Lake Roosevelt on a questionable penalty kick call inside the final moments; shut out Oroville on the road, 3-0; and lost to No. 13-ranked 1A Cascade Kodiaks, 5-1, and the 2B No. 2-ranked Brewster Bears, 4-0.
The Mountain Lions clearly outnumbered and overmatched the Fillies in winning both games by a combined score of 7-0. With double the roster size, coach Kelly Grayum was able to rotate substitutions to keep fresh legs on the pitch, holding the ball in the Fillies’ end of the field and applying direct pressure on the Bridgeport net.
Ada Humling, Elaine Walker and Zahra Somerville-Borowski scored the three tallies in the Sept. 29 3-0 win on the pitch at Mountain Lion Stadium.
It was more of the same on Oct. 3 at Bridgeport in a 4-0 win. Goals by Cassidy Pattison and Aria Covell were augmented by a pair of tallies from Mabel Grayum.
In the late game loss to Lake Roosevelt, constant offensive pressure nearly paid off in several attempts, none of which made it over the goal line. In one of the busier games in net, Troyer performed very well in the match, according to Grayum.
“She made five saves in that game and nearly got to the penalty kick,” the coach said.
Late in the game, junior defender Clara Ramsey-George executed a sliding tackle on a Raider forward, knocking the ball away and preventing a shot on goal. A violation was called on the Mountain Lion defender, inside the goal box, which resulted in the penalty kick and winning goal. Stoppage time allowed for one last chance for the home team, but the final whistle blew before the Mountain Lions could get the ball near the Lake Roosevelt net.
“The Lake Roosevelt match was a brave performance, actually,” said Grayum. “We’re very proud of all of them and I think we will learn a lot about resilience from it.”
Battling Brewster
The Mountain Lions hosted the Brewster Bears on Oct. 6. But the injury bug had hit the Liberty Bell squad.
“We are in a bit of an injury funk,” reported Grayum. “Ally Hovee is out with a concussion still and Taylor Hover sat most of the first Bridgeport game with a knee injury.”
Grayum added to the list Coco Balick with a muscle injury and Declan Acosta-Smith was nursing an aching leg. “She got stomped by a Lake Roosevelt player which resulted in a yellow card,” noted Grayum. “By the end of the game we had only one sub.”
Against Brewster, the Mountain Lions played tough, but the experience of the local rival was just too much in a 4-0 loss for the home team. Brewster essentially beat the Mountain Lions at their own game, holding the ball in the Lions’ half of the field and playing aggressively on defense, pushing the ball up field and taking shots with frequency.
Brewster senior Pepper Boesel scored her 100th career goal on an early penalty kick awarded to the Bears on Mountain Lion handball inside the goal box. She added an insurance goal later to extend the Bear lead to 3-0.
The Mountain Lions bounced back with a 3-0 win at Oroville on Oct. 8. Sky Boley got it started for the Lions with a goal off an assist by Ada Humling in the 34th minute to give Liberty Bell a 1-0 halftime lead. Humling added an unassisted goal of her own about halfway through the second period and Mabel Grayum knocked through a rebounded shot by Covell, made possible by a nifty assist, again from Humling, for the last tally just before the final whistle.
The Mountain Lions dominated the match, firing 15 shots on goal to Oroville’s one. Lucia Troyer and Caleigh Buzzard combined for the shutout in goal for Liberty Bell.
Another tough opponent in Caribou Trail League leader Cascade resulted in a 5-1 non-league loss for Liberty Bell on Oct. 10. Troyer and Buzzard again shared goalkeeping chores. The pair combined for 15 total saves, including coming out of goal several times to stop drives by Cascade front liners.
“This was a much closer contest than the score indicates,” Grayum reported. “The girls played really well and went toe-to-toe with a team that has nine seniors and is ranked 12th in the state for 1A.” That RPI ranking updated to 11th after the match.
“It was one of those games, that with a bit more experience from our freshmen and sophomore attackers and our freshman and sophomore goalkeepers,” said Grayum.
Thursday the Mountain Lions travel over the Loup to Okanogan for a 4:30 p.m. match with the Bulldogs, currently ranked No. 3 in the WIAA RPI poll behind No. 2 Brewster.
Oroville comes to Liberty Bell on Tuesday (Oct. 20), for the final regular season match. It will be Senior Recognition Day when the Mountain Lions will celebrate the careers of Pepper Treise, Ada Humling and Taylor Hover. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
With the post season approaching, the Mountain Lions appear to have sewn up the No. 4 seed into the Central Washington B League tournament. The league has not yet posted post season brackets. Grayum believes the Mountain Lions will host a first-round match. Check for updates on the WIAA Girls Soccer web page: https://wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php.
