The young Liberty County girls’ soccer team dug deep during its sub-region game against Academy of Richmond County on Tuesday in Augusta and earned a 6-1 win to qualify for the state playoffs.
According to Lady Panthers coach Jarvis McArthur, it will be the team’s first state playoff appearance since 2010.
McArthur said junior Myesha Robinson emerged as the game’s superstar. She scored two of her five goals less than five minutes into the game. Junior Cortney Welch added another goal before halftime to give Liberty a 3-0 lead at the break.
“I was really proud of the energy level and intensity that the girls displayed early in the game after enduring a long and tiring three-hour bus ride,” McArthur said. “It’s our spring break, and we had only 12 players suited up. Knowing the situation, the girls hung tough and fought through the bumps and bruises of the game.”
McArthur said juniors Erykah Brown and Tiffany Erickson and sophomores Tatiana White and Nicole Esterbrook played exceptional defense.
The coach said Thursday that the Lady Panthers would have to play two more games — one was scheduled Thursday and another next Wednesday — to determine where the Lady Panthers end up in the state tournament’s bracket play.