WENTZVILLE — The Liberty High Eagles put the finishing touch on a busy week Thursday, coming away with a 3-1 boys soccer victory over host Timberland to capture the first GAC Champions Cup title.
The Eagles, ranked fourth among large schools, beat Orchard Farm, the area's fifth-ranked small school, 5-1 on Monday in a GAC Champions Cup semifinal and then fell 4-3 in penalty kicks on Wednesday to top-ranked De Smet in the St. ÑÇÖÞÎÞÂë High School Champions League semis.
"After last night's game, I told our guys they had 30 minutes to dwell on the loss and then move on,'' Liberty coach Tony Luedecke said. "I was probably more worried about their legs, but mentally I thought we did a good job of making sure we were ready to go tonight. Timberland's a very good team, they're a district rival and they're a team we could see again in the playoffs. I'm really happy with the way we played tonight. We came in focused and did what we needed to do."
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Senior defender Brody Marino added: "I've always been somebody who can move on, but I know last night affected some of our guys. A lot of us were sore and I thought our warmup today was really bad. But once the game started, we did what we needed to do and managed to get the job done."
The Eagles (13-2) scored twice off corner kicks in the first half and took a 2-1 lead to halftime. They added an insurance goal with about 9 1/2 minutes to play in the win. Liberty won by the same score in the teams' GAC league game on Oct. 3 at Timberland.
The host Wolves suffered a key loss in the game's opening minutes when sophomore Karson Maull, a returning all-league player, suffered a significant leg injury. He had nine goals and two assists last season and entered Thursday's action with seven goals and four assists.
"Just an unfortunate situation,'' Timberland coach Brad Jacobsen said. "A tough soccer play; as he shot the ball, his leg got tangled up with one of their defenders. Losing Karson will definitely hurt us, but we have a good number of returning guys. Hopefully somebody can step up."
Liberty grabbed the lead about 7 minutes in when Dylan Handlan's corner found Cannon Nord in front. His shot was blocked, but Cooper Ludwig was in position at the top of the box to finish off the play and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the half, Timberland nearly pulled even when Manny Santos redirected a Jackson Hanna free kick just wide of the near corner. The Wolves did manage to make it 1-1 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. After running down a corner kick, Haven Chung did some slick dribbling to open space before setting up Santos for the tying goal.
But with just over a minute to play before halftime, the Eagles converted following another corner. After a flick-on header by Corey Lynch, Cannon Nord scored on a powerful volley, allowing Liberty to go to halftime up 2-1.
"We work a lot on set pieces and it's something that's paid off for us all season,'' Luedecke said.
"Staying in front of Timberland was key for us because they're a team that rides its emotions,'' Marino added.
The game took a turn midway through the second half when Timberland's Ethan Purewal was ejected following a dangerous tackle. The Wolves played a man down the rest of the match.
Not long after the ejection, Liberty's Lynch had his initial shot and rebound chance turned away by Timberland keeper Trentyn Chiapelas.
But with the Wolves trying to push forward for a tying goal, the Eagles took advantage and scored an insurance goal. After running onto a pass from Ryan Sinclair, Logan Sproull scored to make it 3-1 with 9 1/2 minutes left in regulation.
"I'm really proud of the way our boys responded,'' Jacobsen said. "Even after the red card, we never stopped fighting. We had to play a little risky, pushing numbers forward, and it ended up costing us on Liberty's last goal.
"We came up short, but sometimes that's soccer. I'm very proud of the boys' effort. Finishing second in this tournament is very respectable."
After a season-opening 4-0 loss to Howell, Liberty reeled off 12 straight wins before Wednesday's PK loss to De Smet. Now they've started another win streak.
"Maybe to people outside of our team we're a surprise,'' Marino said. "But with the guys we had coming back, I expected to have a good season. The key now is to keep it going strong into the postseason."