Fighting for the Title

Liberty Eagles battle the Francis Howell Vikings for a chance to compete in the district title game

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Jayce Haun

Rachel Skyberg (12) advances the ball downfield while a Howell defender tries to regain possession.

Rylee Shipes, Reporter

On Tuesday, May 16, the girls soccer team fought Francis Howell for a spot in the Class 4 District game later this week. The Eagles rose to the occasion and secured the spot in Friday night’s district championship game with a final score of 3-0. 

The first 20 minutes of the game were very intense until the Eagles broke past the Vikings’ goalkeeper, Hayleigh Martin. Senior Rachel Skyberg put a shot in the back of the net to make it 1-0. Her goal was assisted by junior Madelynn Kuhn. However, no other goals were scored in the first half with the score 1-0, the Eagles in the lead.

“I was excited, it’s always good to get an early lead in these types of games. I was glad we went into halftime with a 1-0 lead so the rest of the game we could keep scoring and play a little more relaxed,” stated Skyberg when talking about how she felt after scoring the first goal of the game. 

Maddie Lipp (11) controls the ball while looking for a scoring play. (Jayce Haun)

Continuing into the second half, senior Morgan Struttmann was assisted by junior Lola Gianino in scoring our second goal against the Vikings. Just a few minutes after Struttmann’s goal, junior Kylie Johnson increased the Eagles lead and scored the third and final goal of the game assisted by fellow junior Mia Knobbe. 

While the Vikings may have fought hard, they were no match for our girls. According to Skyberg, we are “playing at our best. You can always improve and get better so we just have to keep growing as a team.” She claimed that a couple ways they improved was “communicating and staying positive on the field. We all played as a team and it took everyone to win.”

Go see the district title game on Friday, May 19, at Liberty beginning at 6 p.m., where the Eagles will battle the Francis Howell Central Spartans. Central defeated Liberty 3-1 on March 23 but most recently the two teams tied 2-2 on April 27.