Harkening back to her junior high track and field days, Brionna Halverson out-ran Catholic’s backline for a goal that ended nearly 15 years’ worth of local soccer dominance.
Aided by stellar goalkeeping from sophomore Reaghan Lesh, Halverson’s goal in the 58th minute held up as Bolivar defeated Catholic 1-0 for the Class 2 District 9 championship Tuesday night at Southwest Baptist University.
The victory ends Catholic’s run of 13 consecutive district championships and seven consecutive state Final Four appearances.
“We have always had the goal of wanting to beat Catholic and then hopefully going on to state,” Halverson said. “That’s just our goal. This year has just been amazing. We did good at first, but then we’ve just built as a team and we’ve grown together.
“It’s a huge accomplishment and I’m very, very proud of my team.”
After an evenly played first half in which both sides had quality scoring opportunities, Bolivar struck midway through the second half for the game’s lone goal.
Near midfield, Liberators sophomore Ally Hargis played a through-ball down the middle to Halverson.
Like so many times during her junior high track and field battles, Halverson won that foot-race. Halverson took one dribble, gathered her feet and blasted the ball inside the lower left post.
A flood of emotions hit Halverson soon after, as she gave her trademark heel click celebration.
“Just to score that and know that it was a chance we had to be up on Catholic, that’s a huge accomplishment,” said Halverson, who set the junior high mile record as a 7th grader and ran sprints as an 8th grader. “Just the excitement, I exploded and I was super excited.
“I didn’t hold back. I was like, ‘Whoo!” and I did the heel click.”
The goal was the 105th in Halverson’s career, tying her for the school record.
Preserving the win was Lesh, who came up with several big stops in the second half.
In the 68th minute, she denied the Irish on consecutive corner kicks seconds apart. Three minutes later, she made perhaps her best save of the night when she made a diving stop on a Catholic header to prevent a game-tying goal.
As the final whistle sounded, Bolivar’s bench stormed the field in celebration, followed minutes later by its supportive student section.
“It’s been building for years,” said Liberators coach Steven Fast. “Catholic has always been that hurdle. It seems we’re always in that district with them. We had great fan support tonight. The boys came out and were rowdy. They were so loud, a couple of times I couldn’t instruct the girls on the field and wanted to turn around and tell them to quiet down, but I just had to let it go.”
The shutout was the 16th on the season for Lesh and the Liberators, tying a school record.
The victory gives Bolivar (17-4 overall) its second district title in program history, the previous one coming in 2009.
It also marks just the second time Bolivar has ever beaten Catholic. The Liberators’ first win over the Irish came in a 2014 regular season meeting.
“We kept using the term that we’re ‘Juiced,’ we’re pumped,” Halverson said. “I’m just so glad that we came through and won (tonight).”
“I’m proud of my team. I’m very proud. I feel like we deserved this.”
Bolivar will play at either Mountain View-Birch Tree/Liberty or Rogersville in the Class 2 sectional round on Saturday, May 21. MV-BT/Liberty (9-7 overall) and Rogersville (8-15 overall) play in the Class 2 District 10 finals at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Rogersville.
Catholic finishes 16-8-1 overall. The Irish graduate three seniors in Maggie Greenley, Ali Libel and Maggie Temofeew.
