CUMBERLAND — As the first Allegany team to play in a state playoff game in four years, none of the current Campers had prior state-playoff experience.
On the other hand, Liberty still had many of its players from its state-title winning team two seasons ago.
Liberty’s experience showed Saturday as the Lions defeated Allegany 5-0 in a Class 1A quarterfinal game at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
Allegany ends its season at 13-3-1.
“The unfortunate part is, I think, that not being here before in this situation is really difficult for us,” Allegany coach Andy Farrell said. “Liberty came in with every one of their players having experience in the state, and we didn’t have any.
“I think that brought the girls out just a little bit more timid than we wanted to start when you play against a team like this.”
Liberty, which made the two-trip from Carroll County, dominated possession from the start.
After a few chances couldn’t find the back of the net, the Lions finally scored on a corner kick.
Chayse Rivera launched the corner kick to Riley Haffey before it went to Maddie Jackson, whose header found the back of the net to give Liberty a 1-0 lead with 13:03 left in the first half.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Campers failed to clear it out of their defensive third and the Lions’ Kalin Young ended up with the ball. Young then passed it to Jackson, who did the rest to double the Lions’ lead at the 4:33 mark.
To make matters worse for Allegany, starting midfielder Harper Farrell took a brutal hit to the head in the final seconds of the half. The sophomore was down on the field for a few minutes and didn’t return to the game.
“When you get down early because you’re playing a little timid, then it’s hard to recover from that,” Andy Farrell said.
The Lions continued to dominate possession and created many set-piece opportunities in the second half.
Liberty’s first two goals in the second half both came on corner kicks. Kaylee Baker scored with 29:45 left before Lizzy Blyden buried a header five minutes later.
Vanessa Chin broke free from her defender and added the Lions’ final goal with 6:07 left.
Allegany fired off three shots all game as leading scorer Madalyn Bucy was under duress for the entire match.
Bucy, who finished her sophomore season with 39 goals, was responsible for the Campers’ only shot-on-goal in the second half.
With about five minutes left, Bucy attempted a head ball that went right to Lions goalkeeper Nathalie McCutcheon.
“Just like every other team, they man-marked Bucy, which we expected,” Farrell said. “We moved some things around, but obviously we lost a player in the first half that usually is our distributor. And that was just hard because we had to move some personnel around. We just couldn’t get the ball where we needed to go.”
Liberty outshot Allegany 21-3 and finished with a 9-2 advantage in corners.
Campers goalie Brilynn Beatty made 10 saves.
Beatty was one of five Allegany seniors who played in their final game. The others are Kendall Cristoforoi, Maizzy Hose, Desirae Hilton and Madison Cannon.
The five seniors led Allegany to its first West Region I title and state playoff appearance since 2022.
“I hate for our five seniors that they went out like this, but they set their mark by having a great run in the state playoffs,” Farrell said.
“No matter the outcome today, they have paved the way for the future of our program (and) for the future of the Lady Campers. Here in 10 years, they may not remember these seniors’ names, but they’ll certainly be impactful enough that the girls in 10 years will benefit from these ladies.”
Liberty will take on Perryville in the state semifinals next week. Patterson Mill and South Carroll will square off in the other semifinal.