Liberty Bell High School’s girls’ soccer team moved on in the CWB playoffs last week, losing a semi-final match at Brewster, 3-0, and then pulling off a thrilling 2-1 shootout consolation round upset at Lake Roosevelt on Saturday to advance to the District 5 tournament.
That win at Lake Roosevelt earned the girls one more home match, this Wednesday (Nov. 4) as they host Goldendale at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the District 5 championship. A win against the Timberwolves sends them into the match for third and fourth place, but more importantly guarantees Liberty Bell a return to the state championship tournament opening on Nov. 10 or 11, the sites yet to be determined.
The 3-0 loss at Brewster wasn’t as bad as the score might indicate. The Mountain Lions earned their way into playing the Bears with an earlier 2-1 win at home over Tonasket in the first round. With the No. 4 seed, Liberty Bell was destined for Brewster and put up a good fight.
The Bears opened the scoring in a hurry, taking advantage of an early Mountain Lion turnover in their own defensive zone and converted it into a 1-0 lead a minute into the match.
But the Mountain Lions recovered admirably after that initial gift. It took 39 minutes for the Bears to strike again, inside the final minute of the first half to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. “(It was) a pretty even game actually,” said Mountain Lion head coach Kelly Grayum. “The girls did an amazing job translating a new strategy on only one day of training and they kept Brewster mostly away from the goal.”
The final goal came at about the midway point of the second half. Brewster players managed to get off nine shots in the match and Liberty Bell goalkeeper Lucia Troyer making saves on seven of those including a pair of solid stops on Brewster breakaway chances.
“Big shoutout to first team all-league defender Wylie Smith and second teamer Clara Ramsay-George,” noted Grayum. “They did some incredible defending alongside Caleigh Buzzard and Cora Mendonca.”
The Mountain Lions held the CWB’s 2026 Soccer Player of the Year, Pepper Boesel, scoreless in the semi-final.
“Zahra Somerville-Borowski and Anja Merkens also contributed a lot to defending that central area on top of the box and limiting shots,” said the coach. “No league team has kept them to less than five goals except us, twice!”
With the win over Tonasket in the first round, the Mountain Lions were guaranteed a third match in the CWB tourney, which meant a trip to Coulee Dam on Saturday in the consolation game with Lake Roosevelt for third and fourth place seeding into the District 5 tournament.
The Raiders turned back the Mountain Lions in a controversial 1-0 win at Liberty Bell on Oct. 1, a match decided on a late game penalty kick.
Revenge was exacted at Lake Roosevelt on Saturday as the Mountain Lions outlasted the Raiders, 2-1, in an overtime and shootout. Liberty Bell earned the No. 3 seed out of the CWB into the District 5 tournament; Lake Roosevelt settled for the No. 4 seed.
The game featured great team defense by the Mountain Lions and outstanding net-minding by the Lake Roosevelt’s Paisley Fury-Smith. The Mountain Lions peppered the Lake Roosevelt net with 14 shots on goal. Only one, freshman Mabel Grayum’s rocket from 25 yards away in the 71st minute, got passed Fury-Smith. That goal tied the match at 1-1. Coach (and father) Grayum called it a “Big, big goal,” and it was as it held up through the final whistle of regulation.
Neither team was able to break through for a goal in the two five-minute overtime periods, so it was on to the shootout that then went to the sudden death round. Sophomore forward Aria Covell nailed her shot past Fury-Smith to gain the advantage, and the Lions escaped with the win.
The Liberty Bell-Goldendale matchup looks to be a competitive game, the Timberwolves (8-6) ranked at No. 15 in the WIAA’s RPI poll and the Mountain Lions (9-7-1) checking in at No. 18.
The season ends for the loser of this match while the winner will play the winner of the Lake Roosevelt-Highland match at Grandview High School this Saturday. Both teams will be automatic qualifiers into the state 1B/2B championship tournament.
