The Park Hill boy’s soccer team came up short when they hosted Liberty and lost 2-1 on Sept. 13.
The Blue Jays and Trojans have history as they played each other last postseason in the Class 4 District 16 Championship Game. Park Hill won that contest 2-1, ending Liberty’s season.
Park Hill sophomore Daiggen Gaar kicks the ball against Liberty on Sept. 13.
“They probably had a bit of a chip on their shoulder coming in here tonight,” Park Hill head coach Josh Marchbank said. “Anytime you get a chance to play the team that ended your season the next year, you are going to have a little extra gas in the tank.”
The Blue Jays controlled the ball and were on offense more than the Trojans were to get on the board first. Liberty scored a goal with 6:02 remaining in the first half to take a 1-0 lead at the break.
“It’s unfortunate because Kyle (Wilkie)is a great goal keeper and made a silly mistake that led to a Liberty goal. We were on defense a lot more than offense and when that happens, you expend a lot of energy and get tired, which leads to those silly mistakes,” Marchbank said.
Liberty extended its lead when it converted on an early second half goal with 33:05 remaining. The Trojans struggled to respond, but made a late comeback attempt.
With 2:51 left in the contest, James Bentz put the Trojans on the scoreboard to narrow the deficit, 2-1. Park Hill had a few opportunities to score late, but couldn’t find the net and came up short.
“It was a great goal and it did wake us up a little bit, but it is frustrating to have to have a goal with less than three minutes left to wake up your team. I wish we would have had that hunger early on,” Marchbank said.
Park Hill will look to bounce back when they host Liberty North on Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m.