Behind a solid team effort on offense and great goaltending by Emma Moorhead, the Liberty High School girls lacrosse team defeated Heritage 8-7 Thursday night.
After Sora Beck opened the scoring in the 4th period, Liberty dominated possession, aiming to hold their 3-goal lead for the rest of the game. With about 4 minutes remaining, Heritage pulled closer after a deflected shot from Emma Baker found the back of the net. A now reinvigorated Heritage side kept momentum and pressed for another goal. They’d get that second goal after Lexi Domenigoni drove to the front of the net and buried a shot with just over 2 minutes remaining, leaving the Patriots needing just one more to tie.
Heritage called a timeout with a minute and a half remaining after regaining possession, aiming to regroup for their last chances of the game. The Bison came out of the timeout ready, though, thwarting any Patriot attempt at getting the ball up the field. Despite Heritage’s late comeback attempt, the Bison defense remained strong and killed the last seconds of the game to secure a big win.
Coaching duo Annamaria Loven and Brad Loven commented on their team’s effort and what the key to victory was during the game.
“Teamwork, playing together, sticking together as a team… 100 percent effort. They uphold a certain level of competitiveness, unity, and resilience. We couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Despite the close scoreline, Liberty had its way for most of the game. The Bison opened the first period holding a bulk of the possession in the Patriots’ defensive zone. Around 3 minutes into the game, Liberty opened up the scoring with a goal from Reese Harvey. The Bison goal woke the Patriots up, though. Despite having a difficult time maintaining possession, Heritage was dangerous on the counterattack. Their first goal came just a minute after Liberty’s with Baker opening up their tally.
The game then opened up into a back and forth match after that. Liberty responded again, this time from Sophie Phillips. Mia Aguilar then scored for Heritage on a free-position shot. Soon after that, Victoria Ramos scored to give Liberty a 3-2 lead after the first period.
Ramos finished the game with 2 goals, the same amount as her teammate Sora Beck. Analeigh Johns, Tehya Buckles, Reese Harvey, and Sophie Phillips rounded out the scoring for the Bison.
Entering the second quarter, the Bison stayed hot. Two quick goals from Johns and Buckles prompted a timeout from the Patriots. The timeout worked wonders for Heritage, as they started to sustain some pressure before Arabella Mattison and Baker scored two quick goals in succession.
Liberty regained momentum with a goal from Ramos that brought their lead to 2 again. A few minutes passed before the next big scoring opportunity came. With a minute left, Domenigoni buried a free position shot to cut the Patriot deficit to one heading into halftime.
Domenigoni and Baker finished with 2 and 3 goals, respectively, as the Patriots’ top scorers.
As the third quarter rolled around, the Bison midfield, defense, and goaltending took center stage. Moorhead made 3 crucial saves to add on to a great night all around, and the Bison midfield made it nearly impossible for the Patriots to advance up the field or get their offense going. A Beck goal in the middle of the frame capped off a dominant period from Liberty as they took a 7-5 lead into the fourth period — a lead that they never relinquished on their way to victory.
“Heritage is a really good team. I would say the ball control in the middle of the field, being able to have possession most of the game, really helped control the outcome tonight,” said coach Brad Loven.
Liberty next plays at home on senior night next Monday against Hemet, while Heritage awaits who their opponent will be in the first round of the CIF playoffs.
