Kayla Greco | Democrat Liberty’s William Velasquez heads a shot back toward a teammate during Friday’s OCIAA Division 4 game against O’Neill. The Indians lost 2-1 as O’Neill clinched the division title.

O'Neill takes title with win over Liberty

Story by Kayla Greco
LIBERTY — October 15, 2013 — James I. O’Neill defeated Liberty Friday 2-1 to clinch the OCIAA Division 4 boys’ soccer title. O’Neill is a perfect 5-0 in league play and 8-3 overall.
With a league record of 3-2 (7-4 overall), Liberty head coach Debbie Simpson expected more from her team as far as contending for a league title, but admitted that O’Neill was the better team.
“They’re a very good team,” said Simpson. “They’re well-disciplined and they have a forward who is hard to contain.”
Liberty goalie Julian Spina had seven saves and O’Neill goalie Kevin Krill six in the tightly-contested game.
“We try to possess the ball as much as we can, play good sound defense and then hopefully with the possession we can get forward with numbers and put the ball in the back of the net,” said O’Neill coach Kevin Hall on his team’s simple, but effective philosophy.
Liberty might get another shot at O’Neill once sectionals roll around in a couple of weeks. With a .500 overall record guaranteed, the Indians have clinched a playoff berth.