Liberty boys soccer team looks for strong finish

Liberty senior Ian Larimer remembers fondly the 2010 soccer season, and he hopes history repeats itself two years later.

Larimer was a sophomore on the Hurricanes' team that qualified for the District 11 Class 3A playoffs as the No. 10 seed with a 10-8 record. Liberty then went on an unlikely postseason run that ended in the district final with a 2-0 loss to Easton.

Now a captain on a Liberty team fighting for a district tournament berth, Larimer sees some similarities between this year's team and that one.

The Hurricanes are 5-6-2 overall and 5-4-1 in the Lehigh Valley Conference. They host Whitehall today.

"We started that year 0-6," said Larimer, a sweeper. "Leading into that season there were a lot of long faces because we thought we'd struggle. But we moved some guys around, some younger guys stepped up and Richard Guedes was our leader offensively. Everyone wrote us off and that ended up motivating us. I think this year could be very similar."

For Liberty to be a district Cinderella, though, it needs to finish the season strong. Coach Jason Horvath's squad has five games remaining Whitehall, Bethlehem Catholic, Stroudsburg, Easton and Freedom and needs to win two conference games to qualify for the tournament.

Horvath and Larimer admit the season has been a disappointment to this point, but both coach and player believe there is still time to turn things around.

"It's been different than I expected the season would be," Horvath said. "We didn't get off to the best start and we've been clawing our way back slowly. We play to our potential in spurts. But we've made some changes in our lineup and in our formations, and I hope we're coming together now."

"This is a four-game week [Liberty lost to Northampton 2-0 Monday] and it's a big one," said Larimer, who moved back to his natural position of sweeper after starting the season at center midfield. "We're trying to win every game. From here on out is what counts."

Senior Sean McIntyre leads the Hurricanes in scoring with five goals and seven assists. Larimer has six goals and three assists while junior Tresor Butoyi has added six goals and an assist.

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Liberty boys soccer team looks for strong finish

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