Late goal lifts No. 1 Gorman past No. 2 Liberty — PHOTOS
Every scoring chance for Bishop Gorman and Liberty became more crucial Thursday night as time ran down in a scoreless matchup of two of the state’s top girls soccer teams.
So when Gorman regained possession after Liberty successfully defended a corner kick late in the second half, the Gaels made the most of their second chance.
Hunter Borgel gathered possession and connected with Amiya Warner in a crowd in front of the net, and Warner scored to give Gorman, No. 1 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, a 1-0 home win over No. 2 Liberty.
“I hit it, and I thought I hit the post,” Warner said. “But it didn’t, and I just remember celebrating with my team.”
The Patriots (9-2-1, 9-2-1 5A Southern League) defeated Gorman 3-2 on Aug. 30 at Liberty to hand the Gaels (13-2-1, 10-1-1) their only loss to a Southern Nevada opponent.
“We’ve been looking forward to this game since we walked off their field with the loss,” Gorman coach Doug Borgel said. “They’re the only team to beat us in league so far, so this was a big one for us. Now we control our destiny for the No. 1 seed.”
Liberty played most of the second half with 10 players after Madisyn Marchesi was given a red card.
Gorman stopped several Liberty scoring chances after its goal. The Gaels’ defense, anchored by freshman goalie Laila Lazzara, stopped three Liberty free kicks in stoppage time to hold on for the win.
“She’s fearless. If she’s nervous, she hasn’t shown it,” Doug Borgel said. “She’s been really solid for us, and the girls have really rallied around her. She gets better every week.”
Lazzara had two key stops late in the first half to keep Liberty off the board. She stopped a shot from Danica Key as she ran around Gorman’s defense. The other was in stoppage time in the first half when Lazzara made a falling stop with her feet after Liberty’s Ayva Jordan gathered a long pass.
The Gaels kept Jordan, the Patriots’ top goal scorer who spent last month training with the U.S. women’s under-17 national team, quiet most of the night.
“At any second, (Jordan) can break through, and I thought we had a plan that worked until the last couple of minutes of the half,” Doug Borgel said. “Defensively, we’ve been great all year.”
Gorman holds a game advantage over Liberty in the league standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season. The 5A playoffs begin Nov. 2.
“That was a playoff atmosphere, and those two teams are evenly matched,” Doug Borgel said. “That’s as good of a team that we’re going to play. Those are the kind of results we need to get against them.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.