EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The Liberal Redskins dominated the first round playoff game against Haysville Campus Tuesday in a 7-0 victory despite having a starter on the bench.
The Redskins faced a stiff wind in the first half with gusts reported as high as 50 miles per hour. But that didn’t keep the Redskins from maintaining control of the ball for much of the first half near the Colt box.
After a few shot attempts missed the mark, Alan Baeza centered a pass to Diego Pavia who drove the ball into the net for an early 1-0 lead.
That goal was followed by Ariel Gaytan who connected on a hard shot just inside the right post, and the Redskins quickly added a third goal to take early control.
The Redskins had a 3-0 lead at half, and after switching sides the Redskins had a stiff wind at their backs.
They used that to launch shots from further outside the box, and while many sailed above the goal, some found their target.
Giezi Gonzalez also took advantage of a penalty kick after the Redskins had the ball inside the Campus box and fired shot after shot at the goal, but the Colts were able to fend them off until the ball struck the hand of a Campus defender. Gonzalez drove the penalty kick home, and the Redskins had a 6-0 lead.
Liberal added another goal before time expired and flirted with the potential mercy rule eighth goal, but the Colts were able to avoid the early end, but they couldn’t overcome the dominating performance of the Redskins, and Liberal won 7-0.
The Liberal defense was as impressive as the offense. Campus did not have a legitimate shot on goal all night on the few occasions that ball made it near the Redskin box.
“With Suain out, we have been working on finding someone else to finish,” Liberal coach Carlos Ruiz said. “I want them to talk about more than No. 19 (Moncayo) or 17 (Giezi Gonzalez) or 10 (Jayden Gonzalez) or 23 (D’Alessandro Chavira). I want them to talk about everybody. Today, Diego Pavia stepped up. Ariel Gaytan stepped up. He played JV and today he had his third varsity start. Alan (Baeza) stepped up and has really grown into what we need from him.”
Liberal also adjusted to the windy condition.
“We felt very good,” Ruiz said. “We knew the wind wasn’t going to die down. We wanted it first, but they won the toss. We can play with the wind or against it. We take pride in that.”
Liberal will host Wichita Northwest who advanced with an upset over No. 5 Topeka.
“We saw a lot of upsets yesterday in Class 5A,” Ruiz said. “I reminded them today when we regrouped for film before the game. I showed them yesterday’s scores. We can’t get comfortable.”
