LIBERTY –– In every playoff tournament, only one team gets to end their season on a win. Unfortunately for Liberty, that one loss came a bit sooner than they would have liked, falling to the 2-seed Spackenkill on Wednesday night, 2-0.

The Indians fought hard all season long, only losing and tying one game each, while winning each of their other contests. In the first round of the playoffs, Liberty handily defeated the Red Hook Raiders by a 5-0 margin. That game, played on Liberty’s home field, was their 13th win of the season.

In the matchup with the Raiders, the Indians set the tone early, scoring just minutes into the game. After netting a second goal, it was called back by the referees who had determined that the goalie was struck by a Liberty player during the sequence. However, shortly after the goal was called back, Liberty made a great play on goal and scored again to make it 2-0. As the game continued, both teams continued to elevate their play, going all out for the playoff matchup. Liberty’s defense was stifling all day, finding a way to slow down the Raiders speedsters in the front and keep them away from the goal.

Chase Racette had two goals in the game, the first of which was after the goal was called back and the Indians scored, and the second was interesting, because it came from the sidelines. Racette had thrown the ball in towards the goal, it was mishandled by the defense and found the back of the net, so the goal was good.

With a 3-0 lead, and only three minutes to play in the half, Anthony Llaguarima netted another goal for the Indians, making it 4-0 as they entered the break.

Knowing that the game was far from over, Liberty went out in the second half and continued to push the pace and keep Red Hook on their heels. The Indians subbed strategically and moved positions around to keep the Raiders from scoring. Lewis Paz, who scored the first goal of the day for the Indians, scored the final goal of the day as well and put Liberty up 5-0 over the Raiders. At the end of the game, Liberty celebrated the win, but knew that they had a tough game upcoming.

That upcoming game ended up being the last of a phenomenal Indians season. The game was scoreless until the 83rd minute, but then Spackenkill rattled off two goals near the end.

Coach Debbie Simpson said, “The team never stopped attacking until the final whistle blew. They represented Liberty with exceptional sportsmanship despite the unfortunate outcome. It was a hearbreaking loss after such a strong season.”

Liberty Coaches Simpson and Scott Hamlin discussed how tremendously proud of this group they are, and how the team represented Liberty at the highest level throughout the season.