The “honeymoon” phase never ended for the tight-knit Bolivar Liberators, but the 2016 season did finally come to its conclusion Wednesday night in the Class 2 quarterfinals.
Pembroke Hill, the No. 6-ranked team in Class 2, netted a goal in each half to defeat Bolivar 2-0 at Southwest Baptist University. Bolivar, which won its second district title in program history and first since 2009, finishes 18-5 overall.
The Liberators graduate a nine-player senior class that meshed with a talented underclass to produce one of the best seasons in program history.
PHOTOS: BOLIVAR VS. PEMBROKE HILL
“We genuinely all love each other,” said Bolivar senior Lauren Lindsay. “At the beginning, (assistant coach Zach) Waters would always joke with us, ‘Your honeymoon phase is going to end. You guys aren’t always going to love each other; you’re going to get mad.’ But we did it. We loved each other through and through.”
Pembroke Hill jumped on top in the 26th minute as freshman Rachel Legg, working with favorable space, blasted a shot into the upper left corner from about 25 yards out.
“We didn’t pressure very well from distance,” said Liberators coach Steven Fast. “The girl got a good shot off. We just weren’t tight enough and she fired a good shot.”
While Pembroke Hill predominantly controlled possession in the second half, Bolivar put together multiple scoring chances in the first half.
In the opening minutes, Brionna Halverson ran down a long ball and fired a shot on frame that was deflected by a Pembroke Hill player.
Later, a Sarah Peterson free kick in the 14th minute was headed just wide by 5’10” junior Grace vanHoornbeek. Minutes after that play, Park Hill thought it had an off-side call on Bolivar, but instead gave up a through ball to a streaking Ally Hargus, whose run was turned back by the Raiders goalkeeper.
Possession swung heavily to Park Hill’s favor in the second half, forcing Bolivar to move leading scorer Brionna Halverson to a center-mid position.
“We were trying to get her more touches, but then she got too far back, so then we were trying to get her pushed up a little more,” Fast said. “Our scoring chances decrease greatly when she gets too far back. We were just trying to get her more touches on the ball and see if she could create something, create a spark.”
Pembroke Hill added some insurance in the 55th minute when Bolivar, trying to clear a Raiders shot bouncing toward the right post, deflected the ball into the back of the net for an own-goal.
“I don’t know if it was going to go in or not, one of our defenders tries to fly in and kick that out. It goes off her foot and into the goal,” Fast said.
Fast credited Catholic coach Ben Timson for producing a strong scouting report on Pembroke Hill. The Irish coach attended Pembroke Hill’s 2-1 sectional win over Pleasant Hill last Saturday.
Target No. 1 for Bolivar was Pembroke Hill freshman Caroline Peterson.
“She was the engine for their machine,” Fast said. “We felt like, for the most part, we did that. We didn’t allow her to score and contained her, off and on, for most of the night. Their other plays were the ones that ended up hurting us.”
Despite the loss, the future remains bright for the Liberators. Eight of Bolivar’s 11 starters against Pembroke Hill are set to return next season.
“This season, we played together more than any team I’ve ever seen in my life,” Lindsay said. “No matter how frustrated we got, whether we were down or whether we were up, we always played together. We were just a family.”
