Liberty and SR make it three county teams in girls' soccer semis

Tonight (Wednesday) will be Bedford County night, as the three local girls? soccer teams are joined by Heritage at the District semifinals in Forest.

Girls? soccer is the only sport in which all three county teams advanced to the semis (as well as to Regional play).

Liberty punched its tick by beating up on Rustburg, a team notable for its winless season as well as a grittiness and gutsiness. The final score was 7-0 in favor of the Minettes.

Staunton River took care of an overmatched, but noble Amherst team, eliminating the Lancers by the score of 2-0.

Liberty and Staunton River will face off in the semifinals while top-seeded Forest will face Heritage. The Pioneers, by the way, look to be the most dangerous team around, behind the hot-handed goal keeping of Monica Li.

Against Rustburg, Liberty scored early and scored often. Molly Mansel led a parade of six different scorers.

Mansel scored a goal in the tenth minute of play, then played deal broker the rest of the half, dishing out assists to Meredith Morris, Aspen Rautio and Maggie Rawlins to give the Minettes a 4-0 halftime lead.

Rautio chimed in with another tally to open the second half. Veronica Riner picked up a goal as she pounced on Cat Padgett?s corner kick in the box to make it a 6-0 game.

Brigid Buchanan scored a goal all by her lonesome to put the finishing touch on this one.

The game was played almost entirely in the Red Devil zone, as smothering pressure by the Minettes limited the Rusties? shot at clearing. As a result, Liberty keeper Danielle Shuey had an easy night, only having to make one save to earn the shutout.

Eagles overwhelm Amherst

Staunton River earned its berth as Katie Brown punched home two goals.

Brown?s offensive output was all that was needed as the Eagles earned their way to a face-off with Liberty in the District semifinals.

Staunton River Head Coach Kenneth Young was complimentary of the Lancers. ?They?re a very sporting team,? said Young. ?I was impressed by how they carried themselves.?

Brown?s first goal came in the fourth minute of the game, when Shrimp Cassidy sent a crisp pass to her at the 20 yard mark. Brown dribbled past a defender, sending an outside-of-the-foot shot to the far (right) post.

With 12 minutes remaining, Brown took the feed from Emily Wilkinson, who had made two good moves on the Amherst fullback. Wilkinson?s cross pass to Brown got the sophomore a nice look from 10 yards out. She easily converted the chance.

Later, Brown appeared to have the hat trick, but was called offsides on the play.

River split with Liberty during the regular season, so Wednesday should be intriguing. ?Liberty is on a roll. They?re dangerous,? said Harris. ?But we?re looking forward to playing them.?