For the Bolivar Lady Liberators (9-2), it's an awfully nice luxury to have a two-time all-stater on the roster – especially one that doesn't waste any time in doing what she does best.
Junior Brionna Halverson, who will be playing collegiately at St. Louis University after her high school tenure, netted both of Bolivar's goals to lead her team to a 2-1 victory over the Republic Lady Tigers (8-7) on Thursday.
Halverson has certainly tallied her fair share of multi-goal games in the past, but her first score of the night was one of the quickest in her time as a Lady Liberator – occurring in just the second minute of play in front of a crowd that was just starting to settle in.
“It just changes the whole game right from the start when she can punch one in really early for us,” Bolivar head coach Steve Fast said of Halverson's first goal. “It gave us a lot of confidence taking off and that's what I think helped us a lot in the beginning of the first half.”
All remained quiet on the pitch until the 22:44 mark of the first half when Halverson showed off her eye-popping skill set one more time by rocketing the ball past Republic goalkeeper Jessica Laster to expand Bolivar's lead to 2-0.
The first-half dominance shown by Halverson came much to the chagrin of Republic coach Kevin Hauck, who set up a game plan that revolved much around the star junior.
“We talked a lot about containing Halverson and making sure we're not stabbing on her because a good player makes you pay when you stab in,” Hauck said after the loss. “We went in diving and she made us pay for it. That's a tough mistake to come back from.”
Bolivar's defense reigned supreme over the remainder of the opening half – not letting the Lady Tigers have a sniff at a potential score and keeping the home squad at bay with 40 more minutes to go.
“I was very proud of our girls for being able to get up in the first half,” Halverson said. “We were talking during halftime and I was saying 'You know, they're going to want it just as bad so we need to make sure that we come out strong.'”
But it was Republic that came out even stronger.
Showing renewed vigor and an elevated level of intensity, especially on the offensive front, the Lady Tigers kept pressure on Bolivar's defense and eventually broke through with an Emily Jordan goal with 22:16 remaining to cut the lead in half.
“They had us on our heels a little bit,” Fast said about Republic's performance in the second period. “They kept making great runs. Their intense pressure was good for our defense to have to go through that and we survived it. They really brought the heat in the second half.”
Jordan's score would be all Republic could muster, however, as Halverson and the Lady Liberators buckled down when they needed to – thanks to some timely communication amongst one another.
“Our girls really started talking to each other late in the game,” added Fast. “When the pressure was really on in that last 15 minutes, they really got more active and more vocal with each other. They just helped each other out the best they could.”
Bolivar next partakes in the Willard Tournament starting on Friday, Apr. 29. Republic welcomes in Willard on Tuesday.
