Late goal sends Liberty girls into postseason

Liberty’s girls soccer team was stunned.

The Patriots, who needed a win Wednesday to qualify for the Sunrise Region playoffs, had just seen a 3-0 lead evaporate to visiting Foothill, with the Falcons tying the score with two minutes to play.

Two minutes, though, was enough time for Alexia Gonzalez and Sunshine Soriano to extend Liberty’s season.

Gonzalez took the ball off the restart and rushed down the left sideline, and Soriano used a one-touch finish to put it in the back of the net less than a minute after Foothill’s equalizing goal, as Liberty held on for a 4-3 win to clinch a playoff spot.

Liberty (8-6-2, 6-6-2 Southeast) vaulted into the No. 3 seed, while Silverado edged the Falcons for the No. 4 seed.

“You’ve just got to believe,” Soriano said. “I believe in my captain, Alexia. I ran through because I believed that she would get through.”

Gonzalez finished with two goals and the winning assist for Liberty, which got a goal and an assist from sister Ari Gonzalez.

Alexia Gonzalez opening the scoring midway through the first half, putting the final touch on a cross from her sister into the right corner.

Gonzalez also converted a penalty kick 10 minutes after halftime, and Ari Gonzalez finished an open-net goal to send the Patriots up 3-0 in the 52nd minute.

“We thought we already had it, so we let down in the back a little,” Alexia Gonzalez said. “But in the end, we worked together and we got the goal back.

“We thought we had (the win), but you can never get too confident. You’ve got to always keep working hard.”

Drea Austin scored six minutes later, taking the ball from the midfield line straight to goal for get the Falcons (8-7-5, 5-5-4) on the board.

Midway through the second half, Alyssa Gamboa lobbed a ball from the left corner that dipped just inside the crossbar for Foothill.

The Falcons outshot Liberty, 6-4 in the second half as they searched for the equalizer, which finally came when Jilian Vigil redirected a corner kick by Courtney Callen with two minutes to go.

“The match-winner was everyone holding their breath, still in shock as they tied the match,” Liberty coach Mike Eshragh said. “Then, as everyone is still holding their breath, you have Alexia running down the field and Sunshine running onto (the pass), and everyone erupted. The sideline erupted, and we just dropped everyone back to wait for the whistle to blow. We just waited.”