Panthers prevail in OT
Senior Zausch scores with 5:30 remaining to reach title match.
Liberty Hill coach Darren Bauer didn’t panic after his team surrendered a 1-0 advantage in overtime of the UIL state soccer championships.
“We’ve been here before!” Bauer shouted from the sideline. “We’ve been here before!”
Minutes later, senior midfielder Zach Zausch sliced a goal into the left corner of the net to lift Liberty Hill to a 2-1 victory over Center in a Class 4A semifinal Wednesday night.
Liberty Hill (22-5) will play San Elizario (17-4-3) for the Class 4A boys championship at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
“We’ve gotten behind or lost the lead
throughout the playoffs,” Bauer said. “Against Boerne. Against Giddings. Against Fredericksburg.”
Boosted by a raucous Panther crowd, Liberty Hill scored two overtime goals — following a scoreless tie after intermission — to keep its season alive.
This marked the first appearance at state for both schools. For the first time, the UIL will crown champions in the top three classifications instead of two.
Liberty Hill struck first when sophomore forward Jack Brewer blasted a goal early in the first 10-minute session. The player Bauer calls a “super sub” scored his fourth goal of the season.
Center (20-4-1) didn’t make it easy. Just when it seemed like the Panthers would cruise to the finish, sophomore forward Aung Thein popped a shot over Liberty Hill goal keeper Caleb Knight’s head with 8:30 left in the second OT to tie the game.
That only set the stage for Zausch, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Riverside, Calif.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve been in this type of situation,” Zausch said. “We never get our heads down.”
Zausch’s goal with 5:30 remaining in the second OT was his ninth of the season.
Liberty Hill’s defense did the rest.
Among the players who limited the Roughriders to a single goal were defenders Taylor Tolley and Izaac Zausch and forward Joey Kipfer.
Knight was credited with six saves in front of the net.
“Not bad for a firstyear team,” Liberty Hill football coach/athletic coordinator Jerry Vance said after shaking hands with the victorious players and coaches.
Liberty Hill nearly avoided overtime when Zausch blasted a shot roughly 12 yards from the net with 6 minutes left in the second half, but Roughriders goal keeper Julian Jimenez made a spectacular diving stop to knock the ball out of bounds.
Liberty Hill senior forward Lucas Rizzotto dribbled through three Center defenders midway through the first half and fired a shot that was cradled by goal keeper Jimenez against his chest.
That was the Panthers’ best chance to score in a game that finished 0-0 at halftime.
Center had opportunities to score, too, behind freshman Marcos Lopez. The shifty midfielder fired a shot from 20 yards out that was caught by Knight. Minutes later, Lopez fired a left-foot kick that hit the left pole and caromed away.