Kevin Goodwin/Liberty TribuneLiberty High freshman Kelsey Goff, right, brings the ball upfield against Blue Springs in the Blue Jays’ 2-0 victory against the Wildcats on Friday, May 9, at Liberty Middle School. The Blue Jays finished the regular season with a 20-1 record.
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Liberty gets final regular season test
Jays battle back Blue Springs in final home game
By Kevin Goodwin
Liberty High’s seventh straight shutout wasn’t easy.
After winning their previous four games by a combined score of 31-0, the Blue Jays girls soccer team faced an inspired effort from Blue Springs in the regular-season finale.
The Wildcats’ defensive strategy paid off for 50 minutes, but freshman Kaysie Clark scored in the 51st minute, and freshman Shea Groom gave Liberty an insurance goal with five minutes remaining in a 2-0 win Friday, May 9, at Liberty Middle School.
The victory gave Liberty, ranked fifth in the state, a 20-1 regular-season record and a perfect 12-0 Suburban Big Seven Conference record.
“It definitely gives us a feeling like we’ve accomplished something,” Clark said. “Going undefeated in conference was a goal for us.”
And it was a goal that was in doubt for more than a half. While Liberty controlled play, its inability to stay patient in Blue Springs’ end led to plenty of frustration.
“Blue Springs had a good game plan,” Liberty coach Tom Rottjakob said. “They sat back more and took their leading scorer in the back because she has the most soccer sense. We saw the space that we could go at and we tried to take it right up the gut instead of getting the ball wide.
“They had so many people down there, we didn’t have any good looks. In those situations, we need to get wide and get some service with people making runs through. We tried to make that home-run pass, and nine times out of 10, it doesn’t work.”
Liberty finally got on the board on a corner kick. Shea Groom’s kick went through a host of players before landing on Clark’s foot near the far post.
“It just fell to my foot and really, I just guided it in,” Clark said. “I really didn’t hit it.”
Stephanie Gartner, Liberty’s goalkeeper, wasn’t challenged much during the next 20 minutes.
Shea Groom put it away on an assist from Kami Groom in the 75th minute.
“It was good for us,” Rottjakob said. “We haven’t been tested for quite some time except for Lee’s Summit North. There have been games where we’ve been able to dominate and take care of business. It’s good heading into postseason because it was a battle. We needed that. We haven’t had that.”
Sports writer Kevin Goodwin can be reached at 389-6652 or kgoodwin@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
After winning their previous four games by a combined score of 31-0, the Blue Jays girls soccer team faced an inspired effort from Blue Springs in the regular-season finale.
The Wildcats’ defensive strategy paid off for 50 minutes, but freshman Kaysie Clark scored in the 51st minute, and freshman Shea Groom gave Liberty an insurance goal with five minutes remaining in a 2-0 win Friday, May 9, at Liberty Middle School.
The victory gave Liberty, ranked fifth in the state, a 20-1 regular-season record and a perfect 12-0 Suburban Big Seven Conference record.
“It definitely gives us a feeling like we’ve accomplished something,” Clark said. “Going undefeated in conference was a goal for us.”
And it was a goal that was in doubt for more than a half. While Liberty controlled play, its inability to stay patient in Blue Springs’ end led to plenty of frustration.
“Blue Springs had a good game plan,” Liberty coach Tom Rottjakob said. “They sat back more and took their leading scorer in the back because she has the most soccer sense. We saw the space that we could go at and we tried to take it right up the gut instead of getting the ball wide.
“They had so many people down there, we didn’t have any good looks. In those situations, we need to get wide and get some service with people making runs through. We tried to make that home-run pass, and nine times out of 10, it doesn’t work.”
Liberty finally got on the board on a corner kick. Shea Groom’s kick went through a host of players before landing on Clark’s foot near the far post.
“It just fell to my foot and really, I just guided it in,” Clark said. “I really didn’t hit it.”
Stephanie Gartner, Liberty’s goalkeeper, wasn’t challenged much during the next 20 minutes.
Shea Groom put it away on an assist from Kami Groom in the 75th minute.
“It was good for us,” Rottjakob said. “We haven’t been tested for quite some time except for Lee’s Summit North. There have been games where we’ve been able to dominate and take care of business. It’s good heading into postseason because it was a battle. We needed that. We haven’t had that.”
Sports writer Kevin Goodwin can be reached at 389-6652 or kgoodwin@npgco.com.