Park Hill South junior Olivia Clemons (#11) breaks loose and scores one of her two goals in the second half of the Lady Panthers 3-2 home win over Liberty on April 12.
The Park Hill South girls’ soccer team (10-0) delivered when taking on two of its biggest tests so far, taking down Liberty (7-5) and Lee’s Summit (5-2).
The Lady Panthers remain undefeated and recently defeated two straight opponents who were multiple games over .500. Park Hill South started with a 3-2 win over Liberty – who beat the Lady Panthers twice last year, including in the postseason – on April 11.
“Liberty always plays us tough,” Park Hill South girls’ soccer coach Jared Byrne said. “They always are an extremely physical team; they have good finishers and good players all over the field. It wasn’t really a chip on the shoulder, it’s just we know they’re going to bring their best, so we need to as well.”
Clemons celebrates after scoring the go-ahead goal down the stretch against Liberty.
There was a pair of goals in the opening 11 minutes, but more than 50 minutes of playing time passed before another score. Olivia Clemons took a pass from Lilly Reuscher and scored in the ninth minute to put Park Hill South up 1-0, but Liberty immediately responded with a goal less than two minutes later.
Both teams had multiple scoring opportunities, but the defenses were locked up until the final 18:08. Park Hill South freshman Savanna Pittman had a free kick opportunity from nearly midfield and sailed the ball right over the Liberty goalkeeper’s grasp.
Once again, Liberty answered with a quick goal. Jayde Springfield tied the game 2-2 for the Lady Blue Jays with 15:56 left.
Park Hill South freshman Savannah Pittman gets swarmed by teammates after scoring a goal in the 62nd minute in the Lady Panthers’ 3-2 win over Liberty.
“That game (quick goals after Park Hill South scores) just kept happening, so I think it’s a good thing. I’m super proud of them, they never dropped their head, they just continue to face that adversity. Even if we are bringing that on ourselves, they move on quickly and they work together to lift each other up, so super proud of them,” Byrne said.
Clemons broke loose and scored in the 70th minute on a pass from Lauren Dittmer. Clemons had another shot down the stretch – going about a foot left of the goal – and the Lady Panthers held on to win, 3-2.
“Olivia is an incredible player, and she has great teammates as well that set her up. That was a great ball from her teammates and she’s just a clinical finisher. She’s just a dangerous player so we’re glad to have her on our team,” Byrne said.
Paige Mazeitis goes up for a header on April 12.
Park Hill South won its fourth Silver Division game of the season when taking down Lee’s Summit 2-1 on April 13. The Lady Tigers scored in the 26th minute to go up 1-0, before Susi Schulze scored two second half goals to lead the Lady Panthers to another victory.
“I know its coach speak and I know it’s cliche, but we really try to focus on the process of just getting better. We want to win obviously, but we are focusing on improving and finding those elements of the game that we can watch film tomorrow and break it down and look at what we can even get better at,” Byrne said.
This is the Lady Panthers’ best start since 2011 when they won nine of their first 10 games. Park Hill South hasn’t lost yet but is more focused on improvement than its record.
“We talked about our undefeated record going into the last few games, but the records not going to win the game for us, right? It doesn’t matter once that next game starts so it’s great to be winning, but I’m just proud of how we’re playing,” Byrne said.