Liberty girls soccer team wins playoff opener by shutout

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Liberty girls soccer team won its first-round CIF Division 6 playoff game Thursday evening at home against Desert Hot Springs in a 3-0 shutout.

Just 25 seconds into the game, senior Karah Thompson found the back of the net off of the Golden Eagles’ kickoff, giving her team momentum to go into the remaining 79 minutes, according to head coach Emma Bennett.

“[Her goal] helped settle us down and play our game from the very beginning,” she said. “We also had a ton of other opportunities through corners and free kicks and just shots in the flow of the game, so it was nice to see as we continue on in playoffs.”

Those opportunities led to the two other goals, from Atianna Gipson and Asha Digiambattista.

Goalkeeper Shyler Johnson, a sophomore, will tally this game as her 12th shutout of the season.

Johnson’s effort was another ingredient in the Bison’s success that Bennett said was very much a shared one.

“Although we were getting beat up quite a bit like we always do, because we are tiny, the girls continued to play calm and good soccer,” said Bennett. “It was a full team effort with my backline and keeper earning another shutout and the offensive side finding the back of the net three times and creating so many chances for each other. That’s all I can really ask for as a coach.”

Liberty will play at Rancho Verde in the second round on Saturday at 5 p.m.

"Scoring the first CIF goal for Liberty was an exciting and fun opportunity to set the stage for how we know our team connection should play out," Thompson said. "This goal was a large team effort of first approach, communication, and skill. It enhanced our confidence for the rest of the game and will continue to motivate us to start each game strong for the rest of CIF."