Shots don't fall either way; Bison finish in scoreless draw
Junior midfielder Emma Campos moves the ball forward during Thursday's scoreless draw. (Photo by Rick Rowell) By Paige Mendez, Correspon...
By Paige Mendez, Correspondent
The Liberty High School girls soccer team finished its home game against West Valley in a 0-0 draw Thursday night.
Though the score doesn’t reflect it, the Bison had nearly a complete domination—as far as possession goes -- in the game. That led to 12 shots on goal, including three free kicks from senior Sydney Montgomery and a corner attempt as well. Of the 12 attempts, two hit the top crossbeam of the goal and one landed in the top of the net -- something head coach Emma Bennett said is too familiar to her team.
“We joke that we make the beam look like the best defender because that has happened so much this season,” she said. “But for it to happen again tonight and the game to end without any going in was just so frustrating for us.”
Senior defender Eunity Pate said the frustration for her was in the team’s inability to finish.
“I just think we couldn’t connect in the first half,” said Pate. “We need to finish when we have the chance.”
Montgomery added that the level the team played at was not where it normally is.
“We just took too long to turn it on tonight,” she said. “Then we got too excited when we got chances and couldn’t get that final piece in at the end.”
With an 8-4-2 record, including a 4-1 win over West Valley in their last meeting, the team was understandably frustrated with the outcome -- especially with it being just a few weeks from playoff time.
The Bison are 4-0-2 in league play. West Valley is 6-5-2 overall but just 1-3-2 in league play.
“This game really doesn’t reflect our real skill in the game. We’ve played a lot better games,” Pate said.
Montgomery agreed with her.
“We may not always have the best skill out there, but we do have the best connection,” she said. “We are so close with our teammates and so there for each other, and that’s not something I’ve seen on any other team.”
Bennett said her squad has developed chemistry that she’s really proud of.
“They are always playing hard for each other,” Bennett said. “We have the 11 out there playing and if we put someone else in, it doesn’t change our game. It’s been nice to have that family part of it.”
She also added that after a rough end to last year’s inaugural varsity season, many of the girls are looking ahead to their time in the playoffs even more, making this tie game an even tougher pill to swallow.
“This feels a little bit like a comeback year after our heartbreaking four losses at the end of last season,” Bennett said. “So this tie was tough for us today.”
Looking forward, with four games left in their regular season, Pate and Montgomery agree that, on top of getting the ball to the net, they are going to focus on one thing as leaders of their team.
“We need to be encouraging each other and making sure we’re picking each other up,” both agreed.
The Bison will head to Citrus Hill for their next game on Tuesday at 6 p.m., then will finish out league play at home for the next three games.
Lillian Alagao races upfield with the ball in Thursday's game. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Eunity Pate tries to escape the grasp of a defender in Thursday's game. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
Emma Campos battles an opponent for possession of the ball. (Photo by Rick Rowell)
