Sports

Girls Soccer: Eagles Advance By Liberty

First half goals from Samantha Boeger and Kiana Mason were enough for Clayton Valley to beat Liberty in the first round of the NCS playoffs.

No. 10 Clayton Valley 2, No. 7 Liberty 1

It looked like it was going to be easy.

After scoring two first half goals in its opening round North Coast Section match against visiting Liberty Wednesday night, Clayton Valley's girls soccer team seemed primed to cruise into round two.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But the situation changed with the Lions scoring five minutes into the second half. Suddenly, the Eagles needed to keep a clean sheet for the final 35 minutes to ensure victory.

That's exactly what they did.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Clayton Valley (16-5-2) is through to the second round of the NCS playoffs after defeating Liberty 2-1. The Eagles will host  No. 2-seeded San Ramon Valley, which beat American 4-0 in the first round, at 5 p.m. Saturday with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

"Once they scored it was a wake-up call," Clayton Valley's captain Kelsey Booth said. "They weren't that good offensively in the first half, but the goal forced up to be more defensive."

With Liberty (13-2-9) pushing players forward, Eagles coach Scott Booth added a fourth defender to the backline. The extra defender helped as the Eagles held on for the win.

"Defensively, we stayed really compact and made sure not to let many balls get through," defensive midfielder Samantha Boeger said. "We made sure we stayed together as a team."

It was Boeger who gave Clayton Valley the early advantage.

Off a corner kick, Marrisa Merrigan volleyed the ball off the post and it bounced to Boeger in the middle of the box who slid the ball in the net to put the Eagles up 1-0 in the fifth minute.

In the 27th minute. Lindsey Parscal streaked down the right side and grounded a cross to the Kiana Mason. The speedy striker beat the keeper to the ball and deflected it in the goal to double the advantage.

"Both our early goals were key for us," Scott Booth said. "We had similar styles of play and we both wanted to attack, but I think we got the better part of it in the first half."

Liberty pulled one back in the 45th minute on a long free kick from Brianna Farber, but the Lions never found a game-tying goal.

Clayton Valley pulled off the victory even with a handful of players missing the match due to illness, including starting center back Shayana Gois.

Scott Booth hopes everybody will be 100 percent when his team takes the field against the East Bay Athletic League runner's up on Saturday.

"We got to get healthy when we face San Ramon," Scott said. "I'm guessing it's going to be a battle."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here