Bolivar Liberators Soccer

While hosting the district tournament and fighting off bronchitis, I failed to realize the Liberators won the 200th game in program history with a 2-0 win over Aurora in the district opener. Congratulations to the present and past Liberators for reaching this milestone in program history.

The program record now stands at 202-120-27

A record 10 Liberators made the 2008 Class 2 District 5 teams.

First team:

Matt Magana – sophomore – forward
Bradley Stillwagon – junior – midfield
Kyle “Toad” Slagle – junior – defender
Landon Grider – senior – defender
Dale Baker – senior – Goalkeeper

Second team:

Mitchell Waters – freshman – forward
Seth Hopwood – junior – defender
Ryan Ladd – senior – defender

Honorable Mention:

Jake Condren – senior – midfield
Carlo Frasseto – senior – midfield

The first team members now become eligible for All-Region honors that will be voted on in the upcoming weeks. Congratulations to all on your accomplishment!

The Liberators put on a great show Thursday night, but unfortunately come up on the short end in the 108th minute. Bolivar would open the scoring in the 23rd minute when Toad conected on a header shot off of a corner kick. The Liberators played extremely well in the first half and set the tempo of how the game was to be played. Pembroke came out in the second half really fired up and five minutes later, they had scored two goals to open the half. The second goal was very controversial as the official was backing up the Liberators on a set play, Pembroke went ahead and played the ball and got a one-on-one with the goalie. The Liberators felt as if they were being pushed back to 10 yards and were expecting a whistle to re-start the play. After going down 2-1, Bolivar would settle in and take back over the game. The Liberators had several great opportunities off of crosses, corners and throws. Finally off a throw from Magana, the ball hit a Pembroke defender and deflected into the goal. The game would remain tied 2-2 untill the 108th minute. Pembroke was awarded and direct kick from 25 yards out. The shot was placed perfectly past a diving Dale Baker in the lower corner of the goal. Bolivar finishes with a 20-8 record.
The Liberators played with a lot of passion and desire this night. I was impressed with how they controlled the tempo most of the game, but it was just not meant to be on this night. A job well done this season boys. I don’t think to many people expected us to be in this position. I am proud of you.

P.S. One of the greatest things I have seen this year….as both teams were wearing down, cramping, injuries, etc, it was great to see both groups help each other up and show sportmanship. A special cheer out to Toad who actually helped a Pembroke player stretch out his cramped calf while they were waiting for the trainers to arrive. I wish I would have had my camera for that shot. This was a huge game and a war, but both teams kept thier cool and I was impressed with the sportsmanship and politeness of the Pembroke Hill Raiders.

P.S.S boys: After the game, the Pembroke coach really praised you guys and said “please tell me you graduate most of those players.” Nope, and I hope we get the opportunity to see them again next year!!

Alright people, it is time to move on. I did not realize so many individuals look at the Website. I am thankful for that, but I am tired of reading all the comments that really does not have much to do with Bolivar/Pembroke Hill. History is history so let’s move on. The Liberators are excited about the challenge that awaits Thursday night. Pembroke Hill is a very good team that we are looking forward to playing.

For the second year in a row, the Liberators took on the Cassville Wildcats for the class 2, district 5 championship. This year the outcome was different with the Liberators winning 2-1! Bradley Stillwagon got Bolivar on the board first when he recieved a corner kick from Matt Magana in the 16th minute. Bradley vollied the ball off his chest to his feet for the shot which found the back of the net. That would be the only scoring of the half. In the second half, Cassville came out really raised the intensity level. Uziel Franco beat a Liberator defender in the 41st minute to fire a rocket shot past the keeper to even up the score. Bolivar did not let that goal get them down. They continued to play their game and focused on possesion. The Liberators really moved the ball well tonight and by far played the better game of soccer. Those efforts paid off in the 55th minute when defender Seth Hopwood made an overlap run into the midfield. Carlo Frasseto found Seth on the overlap and played a perfect ball to him. Seth beat the outside back, took the ball down to the corner and sent a beautiful cross into the box. Sophomore Matt Magana read the cross perfectly, settled the ball to his feet and fired the shot past a diving keeper. That goal would prove to be the game winner! Cassville would mount a couple of more attacks, but the Liberator defense would not be denied. Bolivar took back over control of the play and three more ideal scoring opportunities, but the shots would fall just wide. When the final whistle blew, what a celebration at midfield with the team and fans. Thanks to the awesome crowd that showed up to support the boys tonight. These guys worked really hard all season and a lot of people did not suspect we would be in this position. Great job fellas and next up is traditional power Pembroke Hill. The Liberators improve their record to 20-7.

Naturally, you will see the controversy will be that the official ended the game early (as indicated by comment #1). My view on this is that the official time is held on the field, not on the scoreboard, so don’t blame the Liberators. We do not have a man run the the clock, the coaches start and stop the clock. We are not always right there by it so it will not be 100% accurate with what is on the field.

Three Liberators made the small school Central Ozarks Conference team:
Sopomore Matt Magana

Junior Kyle “Toad” Slagle

Junior Bradley Stillwagon

This was the first year for an “official” coc team for our sport. Congratulations guys!

For the second year in a row, the Liberators will face the Cassville Wildcats for a district Championship. This is the third year in a row the Liberators have reached the final. In 2006, they were defeated by West Plains 1-0 on that ever famous controversial goal. Last season, Cassville defeated the Liberators 2-1. Will the third time be a charm for the Liberators? Come to Liberator field @ 5:30 and help cheer on your Liberators!

Bolivar 3
Marshfield 2

2 overtimes.

Scoring:
Marshfield – penalty kick
Bolivar – own goal (from Marshfield)
Bolivar – Matt Magana unassisted
Marshfield – #21 – off set play with 4:00 minutes remaining
Bolivar – Mitchell Waters – 100th minute – shoots ball off a throw from Magana. The shot deflects off a Marshfield defender past the keeper for the golden goal.

Cassville 2
Monett 1

Scoring:
Monett #11
Cassville – Uzi unassisted
Cassville – #26 unassisted in the 76th minute

This will be the second year in a row Bolivar and Cassville will meet in the district final. It is the third year in a row that both teams have been in a district final.

Bolivar 2
Aurora 0

Mitchell Water scored both goals for the Liberators with assists from Matt Magana and Kyle Slagle. The Liberators had an apparent goal taken away by a questionable offside call and outshot the Houn Dawgs 35-3, but struggled with their finishing. Hard played game by both teams.

Monett 11
Webb City 1

Marshfield 2
Carl Junction 1

The only upset of the day, the shorthanded bluejays took the game to penalty kicks where they outscored carl Junction 4-3.

Cassville 6
West Plains 0

Uziel Franco scored all six in the shutout win.

Semifinals:

#1 Bolivar vs. #5 Marshfield 11/3 5:00pm

#2 Monett vs. #3 Cassville 11/3 7:00pm