By Lori Brown
HARRIS — October 24, 2006 — The Liberty United soccer team played the visiting Goshen Riptides on Sunday afternoon in a youth 13-and-Under game at the Center for Discovery soccer field.
Unfortunately for the local players, Goshen prevailed by a final score of 5-4.
The Liberty United Club consists of youngsters throughout Sullivan County who come together to play competitive soccer. The Liberty United Club sponsors a total of five teams.
Carpio Ramos, who serves as Head Coach of Liberty United, said this is a three-year club.
“This club prepares the youths for when they get older,” he said.
The match consisted of two halves, each of which was 35 minutes in duration.
Liberty United’s Ryan Harnish scored the first goal within the first three minutes.
Just a few moments later, Goshen’s Jorge Garrido kicked the ball into the Liberty goal cage to knot the contest at 1-1.
About midway through the first half, Harnish scored again to give Liberty United a 2-1 advantage.
Five minutes later, Goshen’s, Jorge Garrido registered his second goal to again even the score.
Before the first half ended, Harnish recorded a hat trick. His third goal of the afternoon gave Liberty United a 3-2 lead at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, Garrido completed his own hat trick. The tally knotted the contest at 3-3.
The next two goals were recorded by Goshen’s Chase Bouchard. On both scores, the Liberty United goalkeeper was out of the goal when Bouchard kicked the ball right past him.
Bouchard’s pair of goals gave Goshen a 5-3 lead.
Jordan Fedun, who was Liberty United’s goalkeeper in the first half, scored the next goal in the contest. Fedun’s goal, which came off an assist from Harnish, brought Liberty United to within a goal at 5-4.
Later in the half, Goshen’s Kevin Murphy scored to seemingly extend his team’s lead to 6-4. But the goal was disallowed because the referee called a penalty in the goal box.
During the last five minutes of the game, Liberty United goalkeeper John Kolarik was kept busy by the Goshen players. Kolarik was up to the challenge and prevented the visitors from scoring any additional goals.
In those final moments, the Liberty United players tried but were unable to tie the game and suffered a one-goal loss.