Freedom dominates rival Liberty

Patriots win 4-0 to advance to 4A semis

“Teams kind of know that we like to keep possession and ping the ball around. [The long ball] is adding that variance. It was something that we saw after the first game, tried for the second game and we certainly saw that tonight.” — Freedom coach Tyler Nolan

In the first playoff meeting between the bitter Bethlehem rivals since 2012, Freedom boys soccer used a pair of first half goals to defeat Liberty 4-0 in the District 11 4A quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Freedom High School.

The Patriots jumped out to an early lead in the first 10 minutes when Sam Matlock delivered his first assist of the season on a curling long ball into the box that Dominik Roszkowski collected with one touch and slotted into the bottom left corner with the other.

“I knew Sam was going to make that pass,” Roszkowski said. “We’ve experienced those passes multiple times in different games, so I knew it was coming. I just had to stay composed and finish it.”

“Teams kind of know that we like to keep possession and ping the ball around. [The long ball] is adding that variance,” Freedom coach Tyler Nolan said. “It was something that we saw after the first game, tried for the second game and we certainly saw that tonight.”

With just 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Corey James proved why he was selected to All-EPC first team by the coaches in the conference. The senior midfielder collected a long ball, beat three defenders on the right sideline and delivered a cross into the box that bounced around before Luke Braido chipped Liberty goalkeeper Thomas Horvath to extend Freedom’s lead before the break.

It didn’t take long for the Patriots to capitalize again, scoring less than three minutes into the second half to put the contest away for good.

Junior midfielders Alejandro Herrera and Michael Deluhery, who both missed large chunks of the season with injuries, connected on the third goal as Herrera slotted a pass behind the Liberty defense for Deluhery to bury with his left foot.

“The first two times we played Liberty, I didn’t play. I got to see from the sideline how their backline moves and where we could move better,” Deluhery said. “That kind of helped.”

In the first matchup earlier in the season each team had played physical matchups the day before, leading to a 0-0 draw between two fatigued groups. The Patriots spoiled Liberty’s senior night two weeks later with a 3-0 win and found similar success in Wednesday’s matchup.

“I know going into the second match we worked on being totally focused in the moment and ready to go,” Nolan said. “The biggest thing between the second match and tonight has been taking advantage of the opportunities they give us.”

Roszkowski extended his lead as Freedom’s leading scorer with two goals while Deluhery added his sixth goal and seventh assist of the season.

Micah Lawser recorded his 13th clean sheet of the season with six saves for the Patriots. Tanner Horvath posted seven saves for the Hurricanes.

As the final minutes ticked away 11 of the 12 Liberty seniors were able to share the field one last time together after a roller coaster of a career with the Hurricanes. Liberty coach Jason Horvath, who returned to the school last year after an 11-year stint that ended in 2016, spoke highly of the group that righted the ship for Liberty’s program.

“It’s just a fantastic group of kids,” Horvath said. “They put up with a lot the first two years. To come back their junior year, deal with a bunch of one-goal losses and still bring it every game, I knew what they were made of.

“This year those one-goal losses turned into two- and three-goal wins. They took the program’s 100 years of success, put it on their shoulders and got it back where it’s supposed to be.”

Up next

Fourth-seeded Freedom advances to the District 11 4A semifinals to face the winner of Northampton-Allen on Tuesday. The Patriots defeated Northampton 2-1 and Allen 5-0 in their earlier matchups this season.

“They both present unique challenges. What we’ve really harped on is every match is unique,” Nolan said. “This was a very good win against a very good Liberty team, but going against either Allen or Northampton creates its own opportunities.

“We’ll regroup and keep going.”