Liberty leaves Legacy/ No. 1 seed overcomes case of nerves, posts

No. 1-ranked Liberty (16-0-1) gave and learned lessons at District 20 Soccer Stadium on Saturday.

The Lancers showed how to score quickly, then became humbled by their playoff seeding before shutting out Legacy, 8-0, in the Class 4A playoffs.

Shannon Brooks scored 27 seconds into the game.

"He beat the record of 37 seconds from two weeks ago," third- year Lancers coach Mike Goyden said.

"After that, instead of relaxing, we got tight for some reason. This team (Legacy) reminds me of a young Dakota Ridge. Back in the '96 quarterfinals, Liberty was up 3-0 and Dakota Ridge scored four unanswered goals."

Brooks had a thought on why the next goal came at 31:30 of the half.

"There's a lot of nerves," Brooks said. "It's the first time we've been the No. 1 seed, and we didn't want to let anybody down. After a while we settled down."

The Lancers shook the nerves and scored the third goal within a minute of the second to lead 3-0 at the half.

Brooks led the second-half scoring with a goal in the 43rd minute.

He also had an assist. Bryant Mazzetti had a goal and two assists.

Goalkeepers Pat Whitaker and Conrad Taylor shared the shutout.

The Lancers play host to Englewood by Wednesday in a date to be determined.

- Paul G. Wallace may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

Liberty 8

Legacy 0

HIGHLIGHT: Shannon Brooks had two goals and an assist for top- seeded Liberty.

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.