By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Mountain View-Birch Tree/Liberty Eagles successfully defended their Class 1, District 6 title on Thursday night with a 4-3 double overtime victory over the Fair Grove Eagles. This marked the second consecutive year these two teams have faced off in the district final with Liberty coming out on top in each contest. This year, Liberty used the scoring proficiency of junior striker Amanda Mantel as she scored all four goals for the Eagles.
Mantel scored the first goal at the 27:30 mark of the first half, giving her team a brief 1-0 lead. Fair Grove’s Cydney Fullerton would answer back with a goal at the 24:08 mark, tying the game at 1-1. The game went into halftime tied, with both teams having missed scoring opportunities.
The second half saw Liberty on the attack as they pressured the Fair Grove defense early in the half. Liberty, though, would make a mistake by getting a hand ball, allowing Fair Grove a penalty kick. At 26:24, Madi Psyhos pushed it by the Liberty keeper, giving Fair Grove a 2-1 lead.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Fair Grove made a blunder of their own and gave Liberty the opportunity for a penalty kick at 25:27 and Mantel scored her second goal of the night, tying the game 2-2.
Mantel scored the hat trick at the 18:30 mark of the second half, giving her Eagles the 3-2 lead. Assisting on the goal was senior Sydney Burton, who fed Mantel with a leading pass up the field.
“Most of the time I try to settle the ball and just kick it up to Amanda to score,” said Burton. “I try to get as many assists as I can and I had one tonight.”
Fair Grove, now trailing by one goal, began to change up their lineups in an attempt to find the right combination. At the 3:56 mark, the right combination clicked when junior Macey Stallings scored on a crossing pass, tying the game at 3.
The game could have ended in the first overtime if it had not been for an amazing save by the Fair Grove goal keeper who leapt and tipped the ball, causing it to hit the crossbar and deflect away from the goal.
The score remained tied after one overtime period, forcing the second overtime. With the game going into two overtime periods, neither side wanted to make a mistake as fatigue, both mental and physical, started to play a role. At the 9:21 mark of the second overtime, a mental mistake is exactly what Fair Grove made. Fair Grove had a hand ball called on them in the penalty box, allowing Liberty the penalty kick. Not a for-sure score but with Mantel taking the shot, it was all but over. Mantel put the ball in the back of the net, giving Liberty the 4-3 win and the District championship for back to back seasons.
Liberty senior Angelina Herold talked about her team’s tenacity and work ethic.
“I think our conditioning helped tonight, “said Herold. “We work pretty hard at practice, run a lot, and do a lot of drills.”
On scoring four goals in the game, Mantel gave all the credit to her teammates.
“I could not do any of this without the help of my team behind me,” said Mantel. “Fair Grove always had three on me, and it was tough, I just had to try to outwork them, which I feel like I did. I’m going to have to heal my ankle and put some ice on it, and then get a lot of sleep and come ready to attack on Wednesday.”
Fair Grove coach Joseph Florez, his fifth straight year in a district final, was proud of his team’s efforts.
“Liberty is a good team and we knew we’d have to play our best, and we played pretty close to our best,” said Florez. “It’s hard to look at that game and have a lot of regrets, the way we played. We were down 3-2 and we made an adjustment or two. We just tried to find a way to get more offense. When you’re down a goal you’ve got to take some risks and our girls had to play a little out of position and try something different. Man, they fought their butts off and earned that goal with about five minutes left. I thought it was a battle in overtime, we just kept fighting. These girls are so coachable, and they listen, and they keep their attitudes in check. We feel pretty proud of our season.”
Liberty coach Shelly Renegar thought tonight’s game was the most competitive they had played all year.
“It was definitely not our best game that we put together,” said Renegar, “so I’m hoping Wednesday we will put it all together, finally, and play the way we can. We’ve been struggling to find two defenders that can stay back the entire game without really destroying our offense, but I move them around a lot so I take part in that. I think that as long as we play the way that we can, and we come with our heads on straight, we can compete. This is a big win.”
Liberty 4, Fair Grove 3
Liberty 1-2-(0)-(1)—-4
Fair Grove 1-2-(0)-(0)—-3
First Half
Liberty–Mantel
Fair Grove–Fullerton
Second Half
Fair Grove–Psyhos (PK)
Liberty—Mantel (PK)
Liberty—Mantel
Fair Grove—Stallings
1st Overtime
No scoring
2nd Overtime
Liberty—Mantel (PK)
