Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – It hasn’t been all smiles over the past four years for the seniors on the Liberty High soccer team.

Liberty High had a losing record in 2019, the entire 2020 season was wiped away by covid and a promising 2021 season ended with a stinging substate loss to Pleasant Valley.

Friday was the type of day that made Liberty High senior Amah Ajavon forget about any of those tough moments from the past.

Ajavon scored his team-leading 14^th goal of the season and senior keeper Jaxyn Logan posted his fourth consecutive shutout as tenth-ranked Liberty High downed Linn-Mar 2-0 on senior night in North Liberty.

“This means a lot after basically four years of playing here,” Ajavon said through a big smile. “We had the covid year, where we didn’t play for a year so it means a lot to have this type of season.”

The win was the fourth straight victory for the Lightning, all via shutout, and improved Liberty High to 14-2 heading into the regular season finale on Tuesday at City High.

Linn-Mar dropped to 8-9 with the loss.

The win continued a record-breaking season for Liberty High and a special season for the eight seniors on the Lightning roster.

“The reality is these seniors are special and I think they appreciate every game,” Liberty High coach Sonny Travis said. “They had the covid season which was my first season and I think that’s one thing to come from

Ajavon got the scoring started on Friday with a beautifully executed goal in the 25^th minute.

“They kind of checked down to me and I just ran right behind my defender and as soon as I got in the box I saw that the keeper was kind of off his line and he left the near post open,” Ajavon said. “I knew I had to shoot it there and I did that.”

After Ajavon gave Liberty High the early lead another season kept it 1-0 when Logan came up with a key kick save with four minutes left in the opening half.

The senior keeper made a sliding save of a Felix Chapa shot from inside the box to keep the Liberty lead intact.

“I thought our keeper Jaxyn Logan did a very good job controlling the box,” Travis said. “Anything that came in he gobbled up and that really helps your defense and gives them a lot of confidence.”

Just before halftime Liberty High seized the momentum with a hustle play from sophomore Flori Gembo.

Gembo intercepted a pass back to Linn-Mar keeper Nicholas Ahlers and slipped in an easy goal to give the Lightning a 2-0 advantage with 2:19 left before the half.

“The guy passed it back and coach told me to pressure,” Gembo said. “I saw him play it to the goalkeeper and I just pressured him and they made a mistake and I got a goal.”

Liberty High kept the Lions at bay for the entire second half with a solid defensive effort that resulted in a fourth consecutive shutout and the 11^th clean sheet in 16 matches for the Lightning this season.

“We go one game at a time and we focus on the team we are going against,” Gembo said. “We want to play at our level and not drop down to their level and we showed that today.”

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