By Dana Harding
Willard, Mo. — On paper, Monday’s clash on the pitch between Bolivar and Willard looked to be a solid, early-season test for both teams.
Solid, at least, until Brionna Halverson rendered showed up with her own script.
Bolivar’s elite goal-scoring machine connected on four goals, assisted on a fifth, and helped propel the Lady Liberators to a dominant 8-2 victory.
From the opening whistle, it was apparent Halverson and company were out to make a statement.
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Bolivar controlled possession in the early minutes and was able to throw numbers into Willard’s end of the pitch.
It didn’t take long for Halverson to find opportunities, either.
In the 11th minute, Mary Grace Harris found Halverson down the right side just outside the goal box.
Nearly working the ball out of bounds, Halverson’s difficult angle paid off with a finishing shot on the other side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Bolivar opened the floodgates.
In the span of five minutes, Sarah Peterson connected on a 25-yard free kick, Halverson scored on a mirror-image replay of her first goal and Grace vanHoornbeek blasted a 15-yard rocket to give the Lady Liberators a commanding 4-0 lead.
Halverson was quick to credit her teammates for the scoring opportunities.
“I just think our team did great job at finding that ball right to my foot and working together with me,” Halverson said. “I know Grace and Mary Grace had worked with me in the midfield and got that ball up there. There were a couple times where I saw it and I just said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
When asked about the difficult angles, Halverson’s eyes lit up as the words came in a flurry.
“In that moment, I’m just into it,” Halverson said. “I see that back side, and it’s a tough angle, but I see it. I have an opportunity to take it, and I want goals so bad … I know I have to take them.”
Despite the 4-0 lead, Willard wasn’t quite ready to go quietly into the first-half night. While the opportunities were few and far between, the Lady Tigers were able to capitalize and cut into the deficit.
In the 23rd minute, a set piece finally got the Lady Tigers on the board with Maddie McClendon’s free-kick bomb from 18 yards out.
Moments later, McClendon buried a second free kick to cut the lead to two goals and give Willard new life heading into the half.
Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, Halverson found another gear in the second period and continued her goal-scoring assault.
Just over a minute into play, Paige Martin set Halverson up for another prime opportunity, which the senior forward promptly capitalized on for the hat trick and 5-2 lead.
Moments later, Allee Sheppeck’s crosser gave Halverson a curtain-call blast at the right side of the box.
Bolivar head coach Steve Fast praised his on-field coach for her tenacity and unselfish play.
“[Brionna’s] speed and level of play is just so incredible,” Fast said. “She just makes everybody better. She makes everyone on our team better. She just coaches these girls on the field, and we just love watching her work. She’s something special.”
Maude Henenberg and Abby Bradshaw added insurance goals for the Lady Liberators, bringing the tally up to five different scorers on the afternoon and an 4-0 start on the young season.
“We’re starting to build some consistency,” Fast said. “We’ve had some breaks and distance between games and now we’ve got a few games under our belt, and our girls are really stepping it up and playing together as a group. They came out right from the opening whistle and took control.”
Key for the Lady Liberators was a dominant control of possession. A stat Fast attributed to his solid line of aggressive defenders and overall team communication.
Leading that charge was Peterson, a junior defender, who echoed her coach’s comments.
“Between communication with the team and having the team work well together, we all read each other’s minds,” Peterson said.”It’s easy to know who wants the ball where and when. That’s why the one-twos are so easy across the field. It’s easier to stay together when it’s more like a family than a team.”
Despite the loss, Willard head coach Tim Magee saw plenty of potential during the matchup of Class 3 heavyweights.
“We wanted to play against Bolivar and see how we would do playing our normal style,” Magee said. “It didn’t turn out as well as we’d hoped. We just weren’t being aggressive in any way, shape or form. We were playing very passive and on our heels. We weren’t getting the 50-50 balls or even challenging the 50-50 balls. Any time you do that, it’s a recipe for disaster.
“We missed a lot of easy passes and made a lot of mistakes. A lot of it was self-imposed, but some of it had to do with the pressure that Bolivar was putting us under. We’ve got to learn to be able to operate under pressure and be successful with it rather than going into panic mode.
As for Halverson’s play, Magee could only tip his cap. Just two years removed from the freight train that was Dylan Owens, Magee and the Lady Tiger program are more than familiar with elite scorers.
“She’s just so fast with the ball at her feet,” Magee said. “She knows exactly where her teammates are, and it just creates problems. Our girls are sitting on their heels trying not to let anything bad happen, and when that happens, she’s going to make something bad happen to you. She’s just a great player and always fun to watch.”
After a quick turnaround, both teams are back in action Tuesday afternoon. Bolivar (4-0) hosts Rogersville, while Willard (3-1-1) travels south to take on Branson.
