September 22nd was senior night for Liberty’s boys soccer team. Playing against the Whitehall-Yearling Rams, the Patriots went in with high expectations. The theme was blackout and there was a solid turnout in both student and family attendance. Student section leaders Broc Fitzpatrick, Libby Ailes, and Keegan Kuhns were there to cheer the team on.
After the standard senior night activities of players walking down the field with their families, the game began. The first goal was scored by Chris Howski 7 minutes in, by a penalty kick taken in the box. The next major attempt at a goal was by Sagar Patel 10 minutes later but it was saved by the Rams’ goalkeeper. The other team managed to get a hold of the ball and made a breakaway, luckily Cameron Price was able to catch up and get the ball away before they reached the goal. Swiftly after, Liberty had a corner kick at 21 minutes left in the half and managed to score.
Om Cantlie got a hold of the ball and entered the box, but the opposing team’s defenders were able to get it away from him and kick it down the field. Patel got a goal with 13 minutes left with a penalty kick. 2 minutes later, Howski skillfully slipped a goal past multiple defenders and the Rams’ goalie. The Rams got a goal in with a corner kick but they were offside, so it didn’t count. With 1 minute left in the half, the Patriots scored again. Leaving the game at this point 5-0.
The second half started strong with Price attempting a goal 9 minutes in. This was blocked but another attempt was taken 1 minute later by Aidan Gordan and Om Cantlie after Gordon passed the ball and Cantlie followed through. They didn’t end up scoring either. However, no time was lost because with 15 and 18 minutes into the half, Cameron Price got 2 separate goals, the second one being an assist from Gordan. The goal 15 minutes in surprised the crowd, it wasn’t expected to go in.
With 20 minutes left in the half, there was a major subbing of the entire team on the field with their underclassmen teammates. AJ Piela was taken out of the goal and put in as a forward to give him a chance to get a goal this season. He had multiple attempts with one header and an offsides call with one of his teammates. It was 10 minutes later that he got a goal in after being continuously cheered on by the crowd. Once it went in the stands erupted in celebration along with all of his teammates on the field. The score ended at 8-0, making it a successful game for the players apart of the class of ‘24 and the perfect senior night.