Liberty finishes as 3A runners-up after falling to Urbandale in final

DES MOINES — The Bolts gave it everything they had.

Playing hard-fought postseason games on consecutive days, Iowa City Liberty couldn’t find the offensive spark it needed against one of the strongest defenses in the state.

Second-ranked Iowa City Liberty (13-6-2) fell to No. 4 Urbandale (14-4), 1-0, in the Class 3A boys’ state soccer championship match Friday at Mediacom Stadium.

“I'm so proud of my guys,” Liberty Coach Matt Harding said. “We battled all the way to the end. We know as long as there's time on the clock that we want to keep going, and I felt like I saw that from all my guys.

“Anybody that I put out there tonight was all in for it. I appreciate that.”

The Lightning wrapped up a state semifinal win against No. 8 Cedar Rapids Washington, 3-2, roughly 24 hours before the start of Friday’s title match.

“To put the two most important games of the year back-to-back like this, it's unfortunate, but full credit to Urbandale,” Harding said. “They played a stacked schedule this year and were one of the top teams in the state, so I really don’t want to take anything away from them, because what they did was really impressive — a worthy champion.”

The lone score in Friday’s contest was a 7th-minute goal by Urbandale sophomore Brice Lumley.

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“They took advantage of what was in front of them, and they put the ball in the back of net,” Harding said. “They’re excellent at pouncing on mistakes, and we made a mistake early.”

Urbandale’s defense allowed just 12 goals in the regular season — good for third in 3A.

“It was kind of what we expected, just looking at stats from some of their games,” Harding said.

“We found a couple opportunities that were kind of close, just didn't put the ball in the back of the net.”

A win Friday would’ve resulted in Liberty’s second 3A state championship in three years.

The Lightning won the title in 2023.

Instead, it was a solid bounce-back season from a team that finished 5-9 in 2024.

“I’m so proud of them,” Harding said. “That (last season) didn’t dent their love of the game. The quality of this team, a lot of these guys were on that team last year. That was not a team of guys that don’t play the game the right way.”

Liberty seniors Roman Riggs, Japhet Bongo and Conley Sundblad were named to this year’s all-tournament team.

The 2025 Liberty senior class closes its high school soccer career with one state title and a varsity record of 45-27-2.

“I’m so grateful and appreciative of my seniors,” Harding said. “They really took it on their shoulders to kind of bring these guys along. They understood the opportunity that was in front of them.”