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Iowa City Liberty looks to keep up fast starts in girls’ soccer postseason
2A No. 8 Lightning have eyes on state tournament after stumbling in last year’s regional final
A piece of advice when watching the Iowa City Liberty girls’ soccer team.
Don’t blink.
The Class 2A eighth-ranked Lightning (10-4) defeated Cedar Rapids Jefferson (5-10), 3-1, Friday at Lower Kingston. The contest was Liberty’s ninth against a Class 3A opponent.
“I think that (playing 3A teams) definitely helps to push us,” Lightning leading scorer Rilyn Breinholt said. “We get a feel for what these physical teams are going to do, and we just learn how to possess around them. These tough games really push us to figure out our style.”
Part of Liberty’s style is starting fast.
The Lightning scored all three of their goals Friday in the first 5:15 of play.
“It’s something we've been really pushing in practice,” Breinholt said. “We want to take it to teams right away.”
Callie Stanley tallied the first goal on a putback of an initially blocked shot on goal 1:15 into the match. Breinholt added her 15th goal of the season at the 36:40 mark. Then, Eno Ituk found the net with 34:45 remaining in the first half.
“I feel like it's kind of hard to plan for us because you can't just shut one or two players down,” Liberty Coach Frank Fiordellisi said. “We've got multiple players who can score, and it seems like every game different players step up.”
Friday’s victory was Liberty’s fifth win against a 3A opponent in 2024. All four of its losses have come at the hands of 3A teams, three ranked in the top 11 (No. 6 Linn-Mar, No. 9 Iowa City High and No. 11 Iowa City West).
“In the moment, it kind of hurts because you see some of the other 2A teams that are ranked high and they're crushing teams 10-0,” Fiordellisi said. “In the long run I think it helps us, because some of the higher ranked teams aren't playing the caliber of competition we are. I'm really looking for those types of opponents to prepare us for the run we're going to have.”
Liberty’s win Friday came just two days after an impressive, 3-0, victory over 2A No. 13 Clear Creek Amana.
The Lightning struck quickly against the Clippers, too, scoring all three goals within the first 12 minutes.
“I think that we have to learn to bring our energy for the entire game,” Breinholt said. “We've been getting goals frequently in the first couple minutes, but I think that if we want to win big games, we have to keep it up for the entire game.”
Liberty will need to start and stay hot to achieve its goal — reaching the state tournament for the first time in program history.
“It would be history-making … incredible,” Breinholt said. “I know all of us want it. We've all been talking about it.”
“We just had a serious talk (Thursday) about the postseason because last year we had a big win in the postseason and then kind of stumbled in the regional final,” Fiordellisi said. “All year, the focus has been really good and some of our captains and leaders have talked about having one mindset.”
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s regional brackets were released last week. Liberty is the top seed in Region 8 with its top competition likely to be No. 15 Burlington (12-2).
“There are some tough teams in our bracket,” Fiordellisi said. “We know we've got a big hill to climb. But I'm hopeful we can keep our mindset in the right place and hopefully our results will pay off.”
The Lightning earned a first-round bye in regional play. They’ll face the winner of Friday’s first-round game between Mount Pleasant and Burlington Notre Dame/West Burlington next Tuesday. With a win, they’d advance to the regional championship game next Thursday.
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