The Liberty Christian started its game with Victory Christian with a bang on Monday, but ended the contest with a thud.

After scoring a goal within the game’s first minute and holding a three-goal lead roughly halfway through the second half, the lead evaporated in a 4-4 tie with Victory in a game played at the Warrenton Sports Complex.

Within the first minute, sophomore Bailey Minderman sent the Eagles flying when she found the back of the Victory net.

She took a pass from freshman Bristol Barron and found the back of the net.

“Yes, it was,” said Minderman of the goal being one of the quickest she’s ever scored. “I got it from her. I just tried to (put it on goal) and I got it in. It felt great to start like that.”

Liberty Coach Ken Dildine said that both of Minderman’s goals were carbon copies of the blueprint the team needs to follow to succeed.

Possession and precise ball movement led to the team finding the back of the Chargers’ net.

“It just goes to show that when we move the ball and we control the ball, good things will happen every game,” Dildine said. “But we get too complacent and we think that we have to do everything ourselves. We do a lot of dribbling and try to move in between players when we should be making a quick move and moving toward the corner. Both goals that Bailey scored started from the outside and then the ball went into the middle.”

Liberty (1-1-1) led 3-1 at half and 4-1 within the first 10 minutes of the second half as Barron scored, Minderman added her second and junior Emma Woodson also found the back of the net.

That’s where things came crashing down, though, as Victory scored in the 57th, 77th and 80th minutes to earn the tie.

Dildine lamented the way the seemingly convincing win came crashing down. A tired Liberty squad appeared to lose its focus and, ultimately, that proved costly.

“It just fell apart, probably just as fast as we started,” Dildine said. “It’s something we have to work on to get stronger. The season is still a long one. My goal is to beat the teams that we can beat and get better against some of the tougher teams we’re going to be playing in the next couple of weeks. That’s been our strategy for a long time.”

One area Dildine highlighted as a positive for the team was the team’s beleaguered defense.

While the goals came in quick succession late, the team’s back line was stellar before the team ran out of gas, he said.

“When it’s six of them against four of us, it doesn’t do any justice,” said Dildine of the repeated late attacks where Victory had the numbers advantage. “We’re still a very young team. We have plenty of things to work on and it’s a long season.”