LAKE ST. LOUIS – When Liberty senior captain Dylan Handlan heard about the new St. Louis High School Champions League, he knew it was the perfect opportunity to put his St. Charles County school in the spotlight.
“It’s the top sixteen teams in the St. Louis area, and we feel like we belong there,” Handlan said.
Handlan scored twice in a two minute span and senior Aidan Brown earned his third successive clean sheet to propel Liberty to a 2-0 victory over Vianney in Pool B of the St. Louis Champions League tournament Saturday at Liberty High.
Liberty (3-1) imposed its high-pressure style from the outset and quickly put Vianney on its heels. The Eagles eliminated time and space, regularly won 50-50 balls and smoothly converted defense to offense. Only a leaping save by Vianney goalkeeper Ryker Benz and two goal line denials by defenders Jonah Masters and Logan Russell kept the game scoreless in the early going.
“The first 15 (minutes) our press was pretty high and any time they brought the ball out, we won it back pretty quickly,” Liberty coach Tony Luedecke said. “We were creating chances early.”
The early pressure paid off when junior Gavin Moyers intercepted a pass in the midfield and sent Handlan through the middle with space. Handlan serpentined his way to the top of the penalty area and launched a straight-away, 19-yard shot that eluded Benz and gave Liberty a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.
“If we lose the ball, we’re good at winning it right back and that’s what happened. We won the ball back, I used it going forward and found the back of the net,” Handlan said.
Just over a minute later, Handlan again attacked the Vianney goal, this time earning a corner kick. He placed the ball on the painted arc near the corner flag and arced a pass that somehow avoided a crowd of bodies and found a home inside the net to put the Eagles ahead 2-0.
“Our plan is to put everybody in the six (yard box), serve one in and hope it finds someone’s head, but we got lucky on that one,” Handlan said.
Vianney emerged from halftime determined to change the flow of the game. Junior Braydon Haddock redirected a cross inches wide, junior Brody Mayer launched a shot that drifted over the crossbar and senior Ian Selsor loudly clanged the iron, all in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
“I was real proud of how we played the second half. It might have been a little tactical adjustment trying to deal with their pressure, but it was basically a gut check. It was more of an attitude adjustment than anything,” Vianney coach Brian Haddock said.
Liberty withstood the Griffins’ early second half charge, and for the next 15 minutes, limited the chances senior goalkeeper Aidan Brown had to face.
“We just wanted to stay compact, not get too spread out, not run around chasing guys and when in doubt, kick it out,” Liberty senior defender Brody Marino said.
Brown had to be extremely sharp in the final 10 minutes to earn his third successive shutout. He made a full-extension dive to his left to deny a shot from Mayer. Then, he leapt high to deflect a Vianney shot into the football crossbar just behind the goal. Finally, he sprinted way out of his net to smother a final Griffins’ rush.
“They made a push but we held on. Aidan made some big saves late and we kept our clean sheet,” Luedecke said. “We were giving up too many chances, and we’re going to have to clean that up, but for us to hold them out (of the net) the whole time, I’m proud of the guys.”
Last season, Liberty was led by the dynamic senior duo of Brady Freeman and Turner Lively, who combined for 41 goals and helped power the Eagles to a 21-3 overall record and a Class 4 state quarterfinal appearance.
This season, instead of seeking out their superstars, the Eagles are finding success through relentless pressure and teamwork.
“We had some players (last year) who shined through, had their moments and picked up for other people’s slack. This year we’re more balanced, we make more passes and we play better soccer together,” Handlan said.
And for both Liberty and Vianney, the St. Louis High School Champions League provides a competitive format to showcase high-level soccer in the area.
“It’s great that these high school kids have more meaningful games. We love to play teams like Vianney, Chaminade, CBC, and for it to mean something now is great,” Luedecke said.
Haddock added, “What I really like about it is the representative groups – St. Charles, St. Louis County, public schools, private schools, Class 2, 3 and 4, all in one pool.
It showcases what we’ve all known about high school – that it’s a really good brand of soccer – and to put that into a tournament for the community is long overdue.”
Pool play continues with eight games on Wednesday, Sept. 25 and concludes with eight games on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Pool winners meet in the semifinals on Oct. 16 and the St. Louis High School Champions League championship game will be played at Creve Coeur Soccer Complex on Oct. 19.
More information about STL Champions League including schedules and tickets: https://laduesoccer.wixsite.com/stl-champions-league
Photo gallery can be found at: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Soccer/Boys-Soccer-2024/Vianney-at-Liberty-Champions-League-Pool-B