Clovis East girls edge Liberty 1-0 in OT – The Bakersfield Californian

One bounce, then another, and the soccer ball found the feet of Clovis Easts Catalina Villegas, who knew what to do with it.

Villegas buried her shot into the top of the net for an overtime goal and the Timberwolves went on to beat Liberty 1-0 in a Central Section Division I quarterfinal game Thursday night.

Thats the sport we play; one single moment can decide everything, said Liberty coach Boog Powell, whose third-seeded team had twice narrowly missed the winning goal in the final minutes of regulation.

Clovis East, the No. 6 seed, moves onto next weeks semifinals against No. 7 Fresno-Bullard, which beat Clovis-Buchanan for its second consecutive overtime win.

Meanwhile, Liberty (15-5-3) is left to wonder what might have been, just one night after its fifth-seeded boys team lost in a shootout to No. 12 Clovis West.

One win or loss doesnt define us as a program, Powell said. We won our first league title in six years, and thats a testament to the players. And really, anybody who doesnt win the Valley is left with this feeling sooner or later. We just had to do it two games early.

Clovis East (12-6-1) controlled play for the first 15 minutes of the game, but Liberty sharply reversed that script, creating most of the chances for the rest of the first half. The second half was back-and-forth, with each team coming close to a goal in the opening minutes and then not again until Libertys close calls late.

In overtime, Villegas scored her team-leading 15th goal when the ball bounced around in the Liberty penalty box. She shielded a defender from the ball with her body and then beat goalkeeper Bri-Leigh Snow with a high shot.

We knew 25 (Villegas) was their best player, and they did a good job of pushing her up top, Hearron said. She used her size and finished. It was a good goal.

Elsewhere, Ridgeviews girls, seeded seventh in Division III, beat No. 2 Independence 4-3 in overtime.

The Falcons had gone unbeaten in South Yosemite League play, including two wins against the Wolf Pack.

In Division I, No. 4 Clovis North beat No. 5 Frontier 3-1, and in Division IV, Bakersfield Christian routed Fresno-McLane to advance to the semifinals.

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Clovis East girls edge Liberty 1-0 in OT - The Bakersfield Californian

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