Carrasco's goal in OT gives Liberty girls victory
-
1 of 3By Felix Adamo / The Californian
Patriot Mackayla Duerksen, right, fights off Sierra Leach of Clovis West, and her own hair, as both players race for the ball.
click to collapse -
2 of 3By Felix Adamo / The Californian
MacKenzie Duerksen, left of Liberty, and Clovis West's Danielle Rowland hook arms as they fight for the ball.
click to collapse -
3 of 3By Felix Adamo / The Californian
Liberty's Mackayla Duerksen, right, controls a pass while Clovis West's Makenna Covington can only watch.
click to collapse
BY STEPHEN LYNCH Special to The Californian
With one well-timed strike of the ball with her right foot, Laney Carrasco gave the Liberty girls soccer team a much-needed boost of confidence.
But that wasn't even the most important thing that her kick did for the Patriots.
After Liberty gave up a lead by allowing a second-half goal, Carrasco scored in the 86th minute to lift the No. 6 Patriots to a 2-1 Central Section Division I first-round playoff victory over No. 11 Clovis West on Tuesday night.
"I'm really happy that I scored (that) goal because this is a really big win for us," Carrasco said. "I needed this. We all needed this confidence just to go through."
Liberty, which began the year 6-0-1, but closed out the regular season on a three-game losing streak, will next go on the road to face No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan on Thursday afternoon.
"It's nice to get a win," Liberty coach Boog Hearron said. "We've lost three in a row so it was nice to get back in the win column. We told the girls it's the playoffs. Everything starts over. Ugly game. It wasn't our best soccer but at playoff time you'll take a 2-1 win or a 4-2 win. It doesn't really matter."
Liberty led 1-0 after a first half in which the Golden Eagles didn't have a shot on goal.
The Patriots' score came in the 34th minute, when Lexie Kinney hammered the ball into the middle of a wide-open net.
The goal came after Clovis West goal keeper Kaylene Norvell crumpled to ground following a hard collision with Liberty's Mackayla Duerksen as the two raced to a loose ball.
After being thoroughly outplayed in the first half, Clovis West came out after the intermission a much more aggressive team.
That added intensity netted the Golden Eagles results very quickly.
Just seven minutes into the second half, Gabrielle Givertz blasted a shot from 22-yards out past Liberty freshman goal keeper Bailey Cockrill and into the back, top, right corner of the net.
Despite giving up the tying goal, Liberty hung tough in the rest of the second half and wasted little time getting the lead back once overtime began.
Allison Holmes placed a well-executed cross in front of the net that Elizebeth McMurray tried to bang in. The ball was deflected out to Carrasco, who punched it in for her first goal of the season.
"We were just focusing on, 'let's play our game, keep going and going, and score a goal.' That was our mindset," Carrasco said. "... I was glad I was there; glad I followed through."
Liberty finished with nine shots on goal compared to four for Clovis West.
Cockrill had three saves.
"I'm proud of them," Clovis West coach CJ Cooper said of his team. "They played pretty well. We didn't get the finishing touches that we needed. That was our biggest downfall."
No. 6 Liberty 2, No. 11 Clovis West 1, OT
CW(4-13-2) Goal: Givertz; Saves: Norvell 7; SOG: 4; CK: 0;
LHS(14-5-2): Goals: Kinney, Carrasco; Assists: Duerksen, McMurray; Saves: Cockrill 3; CK: 2.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by...
Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
The death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva immediately following his apparent beating Wednesday by Kern County law enforcement officers raises questions that have been asked in Bakersfield many times before -- questions about the use of deadly force by police.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
A war of words erupted Friday over video footage taken of David Sal Silva’s deadly encounter with law enforcement officers.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.