There’s a reason Liberty coach Brenda Strohmer scheduled early-season games against traditional field hockey powers like Notre Dame Prep, Broadneck and McDonogh.
That reason quickly became evident in Saturday’s Class 1A state final against Fallston.
Bolstered by a talent-laden lineup accustomed to playing top competition both in and out of powerful Carroll County, Liberty took command early, scoring three goals in the game’s first 22 minutes and rolling to a 6-1 win at Stevenson University.
“This is why we play the tough teams,” Strohmer said. “Carroll County doesn’t have any turf, so we like to pick up the tough turf games because it only makes them better to get up to this level… It picks apart what we need to work on in practice.”
“I think the higher level of competition really gets us set for states, and gives us confidence going in knowing that we can actually produce,” forward Tessa Becraft added.
And produce they did.
Sophomore Lacey Odachowski scored her first career hat trick to go along with a goal and assist each by Becraft and Tori Schmitz and a pair of assists by freshman Faith Kim, as the 1A top-seeded Lions outshot the No. 3 Cougars 19-4 and drew 15 penalty corners.
The win gave Liberty (16-2) its first state title since 2019 and sixth overall. This one, however, was particularly special for a program that went from just four wins in 2023 to nine last season before truly hitting its stride this fall.
“We’ve improved throughout the season” Faith Kim said. “As we’ve clicked together, we’ve been able to get more dominant wins.”
The Lions’ only losses this year came against Notre Dame Prep, a finalist in the powerful Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference, and Carroll County-foe Manchester Valley, which finished as Class 2A runner-up later Saturday.
The team closed out its season by allowing just two goals over its final 10 games, including a 4-0 win over defending champion Pocomoke in the semifinals.
“Our semifinal game, that was the moment where I felt we clicked and we were all on the same page,” junior midfielder Claire Kim, a Princeton commit, said. “We just carried that momentum over to state finals.”
Liberty controlled this one from the outset, keeping possession with precision give-and-go passing, using their speed to win loose balls and taking a 1-0 lead 7:19 into the game when Schmitz scored from a severe angle on the left side on a ball that appeared to be a cross, but snuck into the corner of the cage.
The Lions then took command in the second quarter with two goals in 47 seconds.
Faith Kim began the first sequence by dribbling the ball up from midfield and sending the ball inside to Becraft, who flicked it back to Odachowski for a shot into a partially empty cage.
Just seconds later, Liberty made it 3-0 when Faith Kim found Becraft for a hard shot 10 yards in front, and the Lions never looked back.
Odachowski, who had scored just six times all season, added a pair of second-half goals to close out a career performance.
“It was just the energy, and really wanting it,” Odachowski said. “It made me really want to keep going.”
Fallston (13-3-1) got its lone goal midway through the fourth quarter from midfielder Olivia Parker. For a team that had entered the finals on an 11-game winning streak, however, the sledding was tough and the offensive chances few.
“I did my homework… so we knew what we were coming into,” Cougars coach Jackie Cummings said. “We knew they were fast, we knew they had the big ball, we knew they had talented players who shoot shots that we just don’t, so preparing for a team like that is difficult. But I think our team put their best foot forward. I am so incredibly proud of my team, and impressed with how they didn’t give up and didn’t stop.”
“I think we definitely stepped up and did our best,” Fallston midfielder Layla King said. “We’ve changed drastically from the beginning of the season to now. Going into this game, I didn’t care how it ended. I told myself, `Just be proud that we’re here.’”
The loss denied Fallston its first state title since 2012. A perennial contender, the Cougars entered the day with the third most titles (14) in state history, behind only Severna Park (26 entering Saturday’s 4A final) and Pocomoke (22).
On the day, however, Liberty was simply too tall a task.
“These girls played so well together from beginning to end,” said Strohmer, who picked up her 150th career win, “and it just kept getting better and better.”
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Class 1A state final
(at Stevenson University)
Liberty 6, Fallston 1
Goals: F-Parker; L-Odachowski 3, Schmitz, Cole, Becraft. Assists: L-F. Kim 2, Schmitz, Becraft. Saves-F-McCarthy 10; L-Bamo 3. Half: Liberty, 3-0.