Englewood – Buon-Joern-o.
Translation: good soccer player.
Of the long list of notable names to play for Liberty and coach Mike Goyden, perhaps no player will have left a greater legacy at the Colorado Springs soccer factory than Kyle Joern.
His one-goal, two-assist performance on Tuesday night was one for the record books, as was his Lancers’ 4-0 whipping against top-ranked and previously unbeaten Broomfield in the Class 4A title game at Englewood’s Pirate Stadium.
“We knew we had this in us, but we didn’t want to come out too confident,” said Joern, who bagged three goals in the 2004 quarterfinals against Broomfield on the way to the Lancers’ last title. “That happened to us last year, and that got us in a lot of trouble.
“We were confident, but not cocky.”
The Lancers, who won their fourth title since Goyden took over in 1996, and a state-best fifth overall, avenged last season’s 2-0 title game loss to Broomfield.
“The hardest position is to win back-to-back. Dakota Ridge did it (1997-98), and it’s the hardest thing I think there is. There was just so much pressure on Broomfield,” Goyden said. “If we could just score first, that was one of the most important things to us.”
Liberty (16-2-2) held off the initial surge from Broomfield, even lost starting goalie Billy Martinez, and then made good on Goyden’s wishes.
With the Eagles still controlling the run of play, Liberty stunned the Northern League champs in the 30th minute. A throw-in by Joern, who last week became the school’s all-time leading point (goals and assists) scorer, went to the box and eventually found Javier Salome’s left foot, who sent a rocket past keeper Ben Sabados.
Just 21 seconds later, the Lancers caught the Eagles napping. A strong run down the right side saw Ryan Warren send a perfect cross to David Trainer, who again beat a stunned Sabados.
“The first goal is critical, and it usually is in a game like this,” Broomfield coach Jim Davidson said. “Even more impressive is that it went against the run of play. Then they went after the second, and it was just really hard for us to come back after that.”
Broomfield (18-1-1) threw everything at the Liberty defense and backup keeper Kevin Barthe in the second half, looking to get back in it.
Barthe, who played in net during the regular-season meeting between the teams (a 2-2 tie), stopped all five shots that came his way.
“I was familiar with them, especially having played them earlier,” Barthe said.
Liberty’s Owen McCarthy, who scored the game-winning goal in the semifinals against Golden, scored the third goal on a throw-in from Joern right.
Joern, who was named MVP by The Denver Post, capped the scoring. Trainer and Warren did the hard work to keep the ball in play, and then Warren set the senior up for his 58th career goal, also a school record.
“To me, the team title is the most important thing,” Joern said. “All that other stuff, the individual accomplishments, are on the way side. We do this as a team.”
MVP
Kyle Joern may go down as Liberty’s most decorated soccer player. The senior bagged his school-best 58th career goal on Tuesday night and also had two assists in the 4A championship game. He already held the school record for career assists.
Liberty 2 2 – 4
Broomfield 0 0 – 0
Goals – Salome (Joern), 30th minute; Trainer (Warren), 30th; McCarthy (Joern), 46th; Joern (Warren).
Shots on goal – Liberty 3-2 – 5; Broomfield 2-5 – 7. Saves – Liberty (Martinez, 21 minutes) 2-0 – 2, (Barthe, 69 minutes) 0-5 – 5; Broomfield (Sabados) 1-0 – 1. Corner kicks – Liberty 2-1 – 3; Broomfield 0-6 – 6. Offsides – Liberty 2-0 – 2; Broomfield 3-0 – 3. Fouls – Liberty 6-7 – 13; Broomfield 2-4 – 6. Yellow cards – Boyer, B, 49th minute; Crotser, L, 50th minute; Aweida, B, 52nd minute.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
