Soccer: Liberty and Mount Si leave hungry, draw 0-0

Liberty High School was leading 3-2 over Skyline, the reigning 2-time 4A state champions, into the second half — but that game slipped away and the Patriots fell 4-3 in a tightly contested game Oct. 8.

In that loss, Liberty learned a lot about itself. It carried that momentum despite losing, into a game against the RPI (ratings percentage index) number one team in Mount Si High School.

The Wildcats came in with a record of 8-1-2 and unbeaten in league play. The Patriots, playing in the top division, were 7-2 entering the tassel with Mount Si.

After 90 minutes of soccer, the Patriots and Wildcats could not get on the scoreboard with a 0-0 draw on Oct. 10 at Liberty High School.

“Coming out strong to day is good. A tie is nice. A win would have been good, but I am still good with a tie,” senior captain Malia Suehiro.

Manager Ryan Johnson was proud of the way that the Patriots responded after the tough loss to Skyline just two days before.

“We played hard. We needed to clean up something defensively, which we accomplished today. We are proud of that,” Johnson said.

For the majority of regulation time, Liberty was the more dominant side. The midfield play of Malia Suehiro and Skyla Yu were able to close on a number of loose balls and minimize the ball control for Mount Si.

They would routinely find Adeline Struer and Morgan Ackermann, who found their own success down the sidelines, just beating the Wildcat defenders with pure speed. But a theme not only in the first half, but also the second half and overtime, was that the Patriots couldn’t find that final pass to create the chance at goal.

“We have a few opportunities to get goals and weren’t able to convert. Sometimes in these games, they just aren’t going to fall in for you,” Johnson said.

The Patriots have even impressed themselves this year. Last year, 13 Patriots graduated, so to be in the position they are is a surprise for some.

“Honestly, our team is better than I expected,” Suehiro said.

“We definitely came back stronger. Our freshmen came out strong and seniors rose to the challenge. That really helped us,” she added.

The Liberty backline played really well and didn’t allow a single shot on target in the first half.

In the second half, Liberty kept putting on pressure. Mylene Aguila and Struer both had golden opportunities to break the scoreless tie. But Mount Si keeper Emily Jenkins came up with two massive saves for the Wildcats.

Mount Si also forced Peyton Warns to make an incredible leaping save late in the second on a short corner kick that turned into a brilliant shot.

Per KingCo soccer rules, when the final whistle blew, the game was headed to over time. Two five-minute periods with a golden goal opportunity for both sides.

Liberty again pressed the issue, creating a couple opportunities early in overtime. In the first period, it looked like the game was over. A corner kick from Isabella Grabowski was sent into the box and appeared to be the deciding goal. But after conferring with the assistant referee, the goal was disallowed much to the dismay of the Liberty sideline and the satisfaction of the Mount Si sideline.

“The AR said it went out of bounds for a goal kick before it ever came in to play. From my vantage point I can’t tell anything about that. He was right on top of it, so that’s his call,” Johnson said.

The second overtime period came and went and the two sides would leave wanting a win, but forced to settle for a draw. Many teams who have been in Liberty’s position can get caught up in the goal being taken off the scoreboard, have a mental lapse and concede. But the Patriots were able to stay mentally tough, relying on their leaders to get them through.

“We needed to stay mentally strong throughout the game. Even if tough decisions or calls come, we still need to rise up and do well to compete,” Suehiro said. “We need to continue to do what we have been doing. Working hard and putting in the effort, continue to compete and get better every day.”

The Patriots are in the upper division of KingCo and have faced a difficult schedule, which is shaping up like a great test as the end of the regular season nears.

“This is a very hard league. You just have to show up every night and bring you ‘A’ effort. We are starting to do that more consistently,” said Johnson.