Iowa City Liberty looks to make boys’ state soccer tournament success a tradition

It was a season of firsts for the Iowa City Liberty boys’ soccer program in 2023.

It was Matt Harding’s first year as head coach, Liberty’s first state tournament appearance and its first state championship.

The title was a surprise to some, considering the Lightning began the year 2-7.

Not to Harding, though. To him, it was just the start they needed.

“I don't know that I would classify it as a slow start, it was intentional on my part,” Harding said. “I wanted us to experience what it was like to play against these teams that have tradition, that know what it takes to get to state, because we had not done that.

“I wasn't looking to lose, by any means, but I wanted us to get a good measure of where we were at and what we needed to fix.”

Liberty’s sixth and seventh losses came in one-score contests against two highly-rated Class 4A programs in Bettendorf and Waukee Northwest, respectively.

Finally, in game No. 10, the pendulum swung in the Lightning’s favor when they took down Pleasant Valley, another top team in 4A.

They never looked back.

Liberty won 11 of its last 12 matches, with the final a 5-0 victory in the state title game over Norwalk at Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines.

“We were big last year on kind of staking our claim into building, starting a tradition,” Harding said. “Getting a trophy in the trophy case in the first year was kind of the ambition, whether that was a conference title or a state qualifier.

“And so to end up putting the big one in there, the state championship, kind of exceeded expectations. So now I'm really reliant on my returning players to instill sort of the values and the team culture that we established last year in this new group.”

The 2024 Lightning lineup will feature many new faces after four of the top five scorers graduated, including top goal-scorer Hayden Saul.

“Looking at my roster, we're a little small right now,” Harding said. “We've got 18 on the varsity roster and two-thirds are either freshmen or sophomores.”

Who does Harding expect the offense to run through now? Flori Gembo.

“I think he's one of the top attacking talents in the state,” Harding said. “And I think other coaches would agree with that assessment.”

Gembo, a senior, was second on the team with 16 goals last year.

“My team's relying on me to score goals,” Gembo said. “They're also relying on me to help out in the midfield and talk more. They’re going to need me to be a good leader.

“We're a really young team. We know we're going to make mistakes, but our goal is to end perfectly just how we did last year.”

Defensively, the Lightning will lean on junior goalkeeper Conley Sundblad.

“Conley improved greatly over the course of the season to the point where he was named to the all-tournament team at state,” Harding said.

Other key returners are Finn O’Toole, Quinlan Lawrence, Dean Cho and Mason Pentecost, who netted two state tournament goals.

Harding’s taking the same approach this year — opening the season with a challenging schedule.

Five of Liberty’s first eight opponents were ranked in 2023.

“Like last year, there'll be a bit of a learning curve here at the beginning of the season and we just have to weather it,” Harding said. “I’ve heard my returning players talking with a lot of the new players, making sure they understand that this is a process early in the season.

“We're just trying to get better as a team right now, not really focus so much on results, and letting that impact our perception of ourselves.”

Liberty’s title defense starts Saturday with games against Davenport West and West Des Moines Valley.

“Watch out for the Liberty Bullets in state this year,” Gembo said.

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