State Champions!

The Liberty Christian Girls Soccer team played their final game at the TAPPS Division II level in dominating championship form Saturday in San Antonio, capturing their second straight state title with a 4-0 victory over Tomball Concordia Lutheran at South San Stadium.

“I’m so proud of our team,” said junior defender and team captain Madison Oliver, who had one goal. “We worked hard all season, and God really blessed us with this win. We are all really excited.”

Junior Leah Cox and senior Abbey Talbot each had one goal and an assist in the win as the Warriors finished with 10 shots on goal, three more than the Crusaders.

Both girls made the all-tournament team along with Oliver and freshman goalkeeper Sara Martinson, who finished with a total of five saves.

The most crucial time came in the 27^th minute when Crusader Maggie Stewart dribbled into the middle from 20 yards out before attempting a shot that Martinson fell to the ground to stop.

She left the game with 6:30 remaining after hitting the grass for a fourth time, re-aggravating a knee injury.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now,” Martinson said with her knee wrapped up in ice just seconds before receiving her gold medal. “It’s so amazing how God just blessed our whole team this year.”

For most of the first 37 minutes of play it appeared the state final would go into overtime and possibly a shootout as both teams performed to the expectation of the game’s billing.

Each squad entered the contest a mirror image of the other with the Warriors eliminating their first three playoff opponents by a combined score of 10-1 while the Crusaders compiled 14 goals in a trio of postseason shootouts.

Cox, however, reassured the Liberty faithful in the 38^th minute when she whipped in a quick shot from roughly eight yards out into the left side of the net.

The 1-0 lead concluded a solid first half for the Warriors, who controlled the ball and spent most of the first 40 minutes of play on Concordia’s side of the field, despite having the wind against them.

Liberty practically put the game in cruise control in the second half, scoring two goals more than three minutes apart from each other.

Something that wouldn’t have been possible without Oliver leading his team’s efforts to control the midfield, Liberty coach Pat Kevlin said.

“Our midfield has been tremendous all year,” Kevlin said. “One thing I want to say about this team is that (Oliver) has been the leader of our defense all season and that’s really how we were able to do this.”

Denton Record-Chronicle

The Lady Warriors (33-7) meet Concordia Lutheran in the TAPPS 4A state semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Mansfield Legacy High School.

Denton Record Chronicle