Liberty's girls soccer season ends in 2-0 loss to Colton

Sydney Montgomery goes on the attack for the Liberty girls soccer team. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Liberty girls soccer team finished out their season with a 2-0 loss to Colton in the third round of the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs at home Wednesday night.

Around the 21-minute mark, the Bison had a near-goal that rode the line but never crossed in. The visiting Yellowjackets had a goal to follow that just two minutes later, gaining the momentum for the first half.

But Liberty head coach Emma Bennett said the momentum was off for her team long before that goal.

“We are just a second-half team,” Bennett said. “We come out and just don’t have it all together right away, but we do usually pick it up in the second.”

Just before the half, Liberty got a free kick that was close but again didn’t convert. Then the Bison came out just like Bennett knew they would -- strong in the second half.

But after holding Colton for the first about 20 minutes of the second half, a Yellowjacket pushed past two defenders to score their second goal of the night. Liberty controlled most of the possession for the remainder of the game but did not find the back of the net.

With the season coming to an end, five seniors are saying goodbye to their high school soccer careers: Captains Karah Thompson and Sydney Montgomery, along with Jordan Hill, Jaydene Ruiz and Eunity Pate.

Thompson said that although her time with Liberty soccer has come to an end, she will take what she learned with her.

“I hope I remember that you can be put with the most random group of people and still feel like family,” Thompson said.

Hill had the same thought, adding that because she moved from Florida, she was happy to find a home here.

“This is my family here in California,” Hill said. “This is my favorite group of people.”

Ruiz had a similar experience.

“I’m an only child, so this is where I have my sisters,” she said. “I want to remember to connect with people like this.”

For Montgomery, who will be playing next year in college, her time as a captain has given her the determination to step into leadership.

“I want to have that leadership mentality, even though I won’t be captain anymore once I start out in college,” she said. “But being captain for three years here has taught me how to be a leader in a non-toxic way and lift up my team, and I hope I do that in the future.”

Pate said she hopes she and the four other seniors have taught their younger teammates important lessons.

“I hope they learn to love each other sooner rather than later,” she said.

With the team making it to the third round of CIF and a freshman having score the most goals of any varsity player on the season, Bennett has quite the legacy to build on and the talent with which to do it. But she said the dilemma remains in the fact that the team won’t be the same without the five graduating seniors.

“I hope they know what they meant to this team,” Bennett said. “I hope they know that they are the foundation that we built this team around. They will definitely be missed and I’m just so grateful they chose to come here three years ago, because they didn’t have to.”

Eunity Pate (right) battles an opponent for possession of the ball. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 Kendall Nickerson moves the ball forward in a crowd of players. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 Taylor Bekefi leaps to control the ball during Wednesday's game. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)