Bees blank Liberty Hill 2-0 for Class 4-A state crown
For the second time in three years, the Stephenville Honeybees are the Class 4-A state soccer champion after shutting out Liberty Hill 2-0 in Georgetown Thursday as Ciara Johnston scored a pair of first-half header goals off corner kicks by Haleigh Beam.
The Flash Today photos by Jessie Horton and Russell Huffman
Stephenville (25-1-2) completed its mission of returning to the title match after dropping out in the first round of the regional tournament last season and the Bees started 2019 hungry and stayed that way. The Bees were simply not intimidated by Liberty Hills 23-3-2 record.
“We got humbled a little bit by the loss last year,” Coach Casey Weil said. “This year we lost our last game of district, and I think that humbled us too and got us ready for the playoffs this year.”
Liberty Hill spent way more time on Stephenville’s end of the field than any of their other playoff opponents, but they were unable to contain Johnston when it counted as 2019 Class 4-A MVP beat multiple defenders to the ball twice.
“She’s our ‘Go Daddy’ she’s a beast,” Weil said. “She and all of our girls never let me down. If it hadn’t been Ciara, it would have been somebody else who stepped up in this game.”
Like other teams before them this year Liberty Hill found itself having problems keeping up with the Bees’ fast-style of play and began to slow down. As the game wore on Stephenville might not have been scoring, but they were undoubtedly wearing Liberty Hill out physically.
The players and coaches began to get emotional as the final ticks came off the clock and the entire team mobbed the field for cheers and hugs. The Bees even got in the “Gatorade” dump with s sneak attack on Weil before going and accepting their gold medals in front of a large crowd.
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