'We were there to win'

FINDLAY – Ally Ferris was asked – a few minutes after Liberty-Benton's 2-1 overtime win over Eastwood in the Division IV district finals – if this was the biggest moment for her on a soccer field."Yes," the L-B junior said. "One-hundred percent."But in fact, it was an incredible few minutes from Ferris – and her Liberty-Benton teammates – that propelled the program into the regionals for the first time since 2021.Ferris scored two goals in less than four minutes of game time in Saturday's game with Eastwood. The first – coming with 1:54 remaining in regulation off a Kylie Modd assist – tied the game at 1.The second – a mere 100 seconds into overtime – gave L-B the victory."My blood pressure's just now starting to come down," said Liberty-Benton coach Andy Modd.For more than 78 minutes, Eastwood was able to keep Liberty-Benton's offense in check. L-B had a few opportunities – Kylie Modd had a first half penalty kick – but Liberty-Benton was unable to find the back of the net.Eastwood scored its lone goal with about 10 ½ minutes left in the first half. It came when Piper Sutton headed in a shot"First half, it was pretty dark," coach Modd said. "We did not play our game. We allowed Eastwood to set the tone, set the pace of the game."Had a good talk with them at halftime," he continued, "and I felt like, coming out in the second half, that we came out more in possession, more in control of the tone of the game."But still, L-B struggled to get shots."You still have to find the back of the net, but you have to stay patient," coach Modd said. "Stay patient, even when the clock's continuing to burn down, and allow our style of fast possession to create the opportunities. It'll come, they just have to be patient and not get into a panic. When we panic, that's when mistakes happen."Even so, as the second half clock wound down, Ferris admitted she got concerned."I was getting a little nervous," she said.Finally, with the clock coming under two minutes, L-B's Bella Flippin had a throw in. Kylie Modd knocked it to Ferris, who got it past Eastwood goalie Ava Kacharik for the tying goal."I saw the cross and then I took my touch, and I aimed far post and was hoping it would go there," Ferris said.It did.And suddenly, L-B's entire team appeared re-energized."When we're able to come together and make it happen, that last goal, that gives us the adrenaline," Flippin said.With the game now tied, L-B remained on the attack, just missing on a deep chance before time ran out in regulation.Coach Modd said the message during the break before overtime was simple."We controlled most of the second half. Didn't get a lot of opportunities to finish, but we controlled the tone and the pace of the game," he said, "so we wanted that same performance in the overtime, because we knew it would come.""We were in it to win it," Flippin said. "We weren't trying to play the whole 15-minute overtime. We were there to win."Kylie Modd agreed."We've been working so hard through this season, and I knew that, after we were going into the overtime, that we would pull it off,"One-hundred seconds in, it happened.Flippin threw the ball in, Kylie Modd headed it to Ferris, who finished for the win."I saw that come off Kylie's head, and then, I was thinking, 'Yeah, I need to make contact with that,'" Ferris said of the game-winner. "I was hoping it would go in, based off the contact, because I was close to the goal.""We practice that all the time," coach Modd said. "Not that it is second nature, it doesn't ever feel like it is, but it was good to see them finish like that."Ferris was mobbed by her teammates as L-B celebrated the district title.Now, the Eagles will look ahead to a rematch with Ottawa-Glandorf in the regional semifinal. That game will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bowling Green High.The Titans defeated Clear Fork, 3-1 in their district final Saturday in Genoa.O-G defeated L-B 4-0 Aug. 30 in Ottawa."There's a little redemption that we've got," coach Modd said.