Liberty advances to title showdown in Missouri girls soccer; Lee’s Summit West, Kearney fall

The lineup is set for the Missouri Class 4 state championship game in girls high school soccer.

In the MSHSAA state semifinals held Friday at the Swope Soccer Complex in Kansas City, Liberty and Nerinx Hall advanced to the final, which will take place at Swope Park Saturday at 2 p.m.

Liberty last won a state title in 2011, going back-to-back in 2010 and ‘11. The team’s motto this year is “United in Purpose.”

Liberty 2, Francis Howell Central 1: Team captain Emma Cronin scored for Liberty (22-2) in the first half and the Blue Jays got their second goal via Madilyn Hamline early in the second to advance to Saturday’s championship game against Nerinx Hall, a 3-2 winner over Lee’s Summit West.

Francis Howell Central fell to 15-8-1 and will meet Lee’s Summit West (16-4-1) in Saturday’s game for third place.

Nerinx Hall 3, Lee’s Summit West 2: The Titans scored first on a goal by Taylor Reid, but their lead didn’t last as Nerinx’s Sabrina Ochterbeck deflected a pass from Lyndsey Heckel into the net and Saint Louis University-bound Heckel scored the go-ahead goal shortly before halftime.

Nerinx Hall improved to 18-3-2.

Lee’s Summit West (16-4-1) plays Francis Howell Central in the third-place game at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Class 3: St. Dominic 3, Kearney 2: In the Class 3 semis, also at Swope Park, Kearney lost to St. Dominic 3-2.

Kearney (20-3) will face Union (26-3-1) in the third-place game at noon on Saturday.

Kearney had a 1-0 lead over St. Dominic on Friday thanks to a goal by Caroline Kelly, her 37th of the season. St. Dominic, though, answered with three goals in the second half before Caysi Brown scored for Kearney with four minutes left.

Rockwood Summit (19-3-3) advanced to Saturday’s final with a 2-0 win over Union and will play St. Dominic (25-2-1) in the championship game at 4 p.m.

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 5:50 PM.