L-B falls to Worthington Christian in regional rematch

MARION-It's the way the brackets fell. Liberty-Benton saw the rematch coming and knew that getting to this point was already tough enough. For the 10 seniors, all they wanted was revenge, but it wasn't meant to be. Liberty-Benton fell to Worthington Christian on Sunday 4-0 in Division IV Regional Finals at OhioHealth Stadium at Marion Harding High School. "We knew that they were really good," L-B coach Aaron Troyer said. "We knew that from playing them last year. We knew that they would be a hard team to defeat." The Eagles (18-2-2) felt like it was Deja vu. They faced the Warriors (17-3-2) last season in the same regional final, playing to a 1-1 shootout at the same school on Nov 3, 2024. "I think they are better this year," said Troyer of WC. "We have relied on a couple of guys to score goals for us this year and they did a really good job at shutting them down. We couldn't get free and couldn't sustain an attack." Those two guys are senior Aidan Hatch and junior Jairo Colina. Hatch has 34 goals this season, with Colina at 29. "You can tell they had a plan for them," Troyer said. "While we got behind them a few times, they have speed and are really talented in the back. We are used to being able to get behind and get a chance. WC happened to be a step quicker than what we have faced." WC made more kick attempts than L-B did in the first half, and Kooper Leatherman of the Eagles saved almost every single one. Leatherman has 65 saves on the season. The Warriors had 20 attempts at the goal in the first half, 17 of them kicks, with three either being throw-ins or head butts. L-B only took five shots at the goal in the first half. While Leatherman had 10 saves for the Eagles in the first half, Cody Thomas for the Warriors only five. Ten minutes into the second half is when L-B knew it was in trouble. A throw-in from WC on the right side of the field bounced off the head of C.J Bah, who put the ball into the goal. Less than a minute later, Nolan Schoonover kicked one of his two goals in. "Things just got away from us," Troyer said. "Especially in those first 10 minutes. It's extremely hard knowing that a team that is difficult to score on gets up on multiple goals. Once they got to 2-0, you could sense with our guys that it would be really difficult to come back." But the Eagles didn't give up. With 30:20 on the clock, WC thought it could get one past Leatherman, but he caught the ball just in time in the center of the box to block the attempt. "They have very good attackers," Troyer said. "So we knew that we were going to have to play more defensively. In the first half that worked, the second not so much. Once they got one and then two, we had to push forward more to try and get a goal but that didn't happen." About 60 seconds later, Schoonover struck again, as he erupted through the defense of the Eagles and straight kicked into the goal. The final came at the 21:45 mark, when Ian Rapp broke free and ran. At the 9:50 mark, the Eagles had a free kick, but couldn't capitalize on getting the ball in as it went sailing over the net and hit the crossbar of the uprights. For the second half, WC had seven attempts at the goal, while L-B had three saves. Troyer said he has seen growth from his team this season. The Eagles have won two straight district titles, and being able to get to regional final in back-to-back years is something he reminded the seniors to be proud of. "The leadership of the seniors has helped with the consistency throughout the season," Troyer said. "Obviously it's tough to go home right now, but only one team gets to hold the trophy at the end of the season and we have to keep our heads up high."