When the Liberty Christian boys soccer team started its season in August, it set a clear goal to build off of its 2024 campaign, where it lost three games at the MCSAA Division I State Championships. 

The Eagles did just that as they placed fourth at the state tournament on Oct. 25. 

“I’m very proud of the way the boys started and how we finished. As a coach, you always want to end on a positive note and I think we did that at state,” Liberty Christian coach Ken Dildine said. 

The Eagles went 1-2 in the tournament, winning their first match 3-0 against Heartland and falling 2-0 to both Center Place and Overland Christian. This marks the second time the program won its first game and the second time it placed fourth or higher at state in the last four years. 

“There’s a lot of accomplishments that we’re continuing to strive for and when we get to schools now they know who we are, and it’s not ‘oh, it’s just LCA.’ We’re not the pushover team anymore,” Dildine said. 

Cole Nelsen was selected first-team all-state, while Reed Bauer earned second-team recognition. 

“(Nelsen) has been a pretty dynamic player throughout the whole year, even the last two years, and (Bauer) went from hardly getting any playing time to starting and being one of the dominant forces we had on the defensive side. He’s a coach's dream,” Dildine said. 

In tournament play, Luke Meyer, Carter Morgus and Joel Johnson scored goals. Morgus delivered two assists and Meyer had one. 

Dildine said throughout the tournament, his team was solid in its ball movement, but didn’t have much luck in scoring.

“The boys fought well and they probably moved the ball the best I’ve seen all weekend long,” Dildine said. “We had several great shots but we either just missed it over the top or just missed wide, and the defense was really good.” 

Dildine touted his players for their high spirits while playing in the third-place match under wet and rainy conditions.

“Even though it was 52 degrees and raining the entire time, they were ready to play and they were pumping each other up so we had a great feeling going into it,” Dildine said. 

Dildine also praised his eighth-grade goalie Malcom Geeding. 

“(Malcom) was in goal the entire time and they were backing him up 110% all the way through. He’s an eighth grader playing in that situation and he only gave up four goals. He was making some fantastic saves and after every time the boys were there to have his back,” Dildine said. 

Communication was a strength for the Eagles as well. 

“They were communicating probably more than I think any team I’ve had in the last four years with things like, hey, make sure you look for me on this corner,” Dildine said. 

With a strong core of returners for next season and a program continuing to trend upwards, Dildine is looking forward to seeing how his team will perform next year. 

“I think we’re going to have pretty high expectations going into next year,” Dildine said.