EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Liberal entered Tuesday’s Class 6A first round playoff game as the No. 5 seed, but that didn’t matter to the No. 12 Lawrence Free State Firebirds, and the game came down to penalty kicks after two scoreless overtimes before the Redskins were able to secure a win.
The Firebirds had a strong wind advantage in the first half and controlled the ball most of the half.
Midway through the first half the Redskins were called for a penalty in the box, and the Firebirds converted on the shot to take a 1-0 lead.
Liberal goalie Diego Flores had to fend off multiple Firebird attacks in the face of a stiff wind the rest of the first half, but the Redskin offense couldn’t overcome the Firebird defense and a stiff wind in their face and couldn’t tie the game before half.
Liberal had the wind advantage in the second half, and the possession time started to balance out with the Redskins spending time close to the Firebird box. Still, Liberal struggled to get a quality shot opportunity, and the Firebird goalie stopped the shot attempts by the Redskins for most of the second half.
The Firebirds focused on defense in an effort to make the 1-0 lead stick, and the first 25 minutes of the second expired without a quality shot by the Redskins.
They picked up the tempo in the final 15 minutes of regulation, and a loose ball was batted around in front of the Firebird goal until the ball trickled across the line after being touched by Isaac Erives with 13:52 to play in regulation, and the Redskins pulled even, 1-1.
Liberal continued to keep the pressure on over the next few minutes and put pressure on the Firebird defense.
With 7:28 to play in regulation, Johnny Young kicked a rebounded ball into the back of the net to give the Redskins a 2-1 lead.
The Redskins went to work defending in the final five minutes, and twice the Firebirds emptied their net to give themselves a man advantage in the final minute.
The clock expired, and the Redskins fans and players started to celebrate, but the Firebirds lobbied the official for a hand ball.
Four seconds were put back on the clock, and the Firebirds took a shot just outside the Redskin box and sent it high into the net to force overtime with a 2-2 tie.
Liberal had to face the stiff breeze in their face in the first overtime but was able to prevent any decent shot attempts, and the Redskins couldn’t score in the second overtime despite having the wind advantage.
That led to penalty kicks and a five-shot shootout.
The two teams both scored on their first attempts, and after Liberal scored on the second attempt, Flores denied a shot from the Firebirds.
Both teams made their third attempts, and after Liberal scored on its fourth, Flores ended the game by defending the fourth attempt by the Firebirds, and Liberal advanced to face Western Athletic Conference Dodge City at 6 p.m. today in Dodge.
