Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Scoring goals was rarely a concern for Liberty High during a 10-match unbeaten stretch to open the season.

Liberty High scored 41 goals over its first 10 matches, posting at least two goals in all nine wins during that stretch.

After managing a single goal in a loss to 3A seventh-ranked Linn-Mar and a draw with 2A No. 13 Marion last week the Lightning seem to have gotten their goal-scoring swagger back.

Class 3A No. eighth-ranked Liberty High followed up an 8-0 win over Western Dubuque on Tuesday with a 6-0 blanking of Clear Creek Amana (5-9-1) on Wednesday in a non-conference contest in Tiffin.

“Goals always feel good,” Liberty High junior Callie Stanley said. “It’s always a big accomplishment so every goal we get is a little pat on the back for us.”

Stanley scored three goals on Wednesday, including two in a four-goal first half for the Lightning as Liberty High improved to 11-1-2.

Senior Rilyn Breinholt added two goals and an assist as Liberty High scored six or more goals for the fifth time this season.

“I think we were just confident in ourselves,” Breinholt said. “We knew we had to play our game, stay calm and find our open channels because we knew we had them.”

Breinholt started the scoring with a goal in the 10^th minute.

Stanley scored twice in a span of three minutes to push the lead to 3-0, the second goal coming on a penalty kick with 21:15 remaining in the opening half.

“We’ve had back-to-back solid performances after less than solid performances so I think the last couple of nights have been some good team soccer,” Liberty High coach Frank Fiordellisi said. “We did some great things tonight, we still know there is more to prove.”

Breinholt capped the first-half scoring with her team-leading 27^th goal of the season with 10:36 remaining in the half.

The senior had five goals in the win over Western Dubuque on Tuesday as Liberty High posted a season-high eight goals.

“She just has another gear,” Fiordellisi said. “We’ve moved her around and played her in some different roles, some different spots on the team but she can just turn it on. She is one of those players that when we need a big play like a goal or we need someone to step up in a big moment she can kind of flip the switch and turn it on.”

Allie Hunter headed in a Breinholt corner kick for a goal with 35:13 remaining in the second half.

Stanley capped the scoring with her 12^th goal of the season with 10:14 remaining.

“It definitely feels good,” Stanley said. “We’ve worked really hard at practice to work together and the goals came with that tonight and that was really nice.”

Liberty High closes the regular season with by hosting 2A fourth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier and travelling to West High before opening regional play.

“It’s always good to build some confidence up especially when the postseason is so close,” Breinholt said. “We know we need to be confident in the postseason so working up to that, getting these wins is really important for the team.”

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