Arapahoe shuts down Liberty in girls soccer

Arapahoes girls soccer team is still very much a work in progress after the first five games of the 2012 season.

While the Warriors headed into spring break with a tidy 4-1 record after they defeated Liberty 2-0 on March 22 at Littleton Public Schools Stadium, its not lost on the players or coaches that improvements have to be made as league play draws closer.

We have so much potential, said junior midfielder/defender, Stella Norman, who scored a goal in the 23rd minute. There are just a lot of things myself included that we need to work on. We are taking things step-by-step and the big thing for us is just going to be staying consistent with our play.

The Warriors would like to stretch out the first 40 minutes of play against Liberty into a complete game.

The girls are working hard, and thats encouraging, coach Kirk Bast said. I think that everyone, players and coaches, will get this figured out and well be able to find that consistency that were going to need once we start league play.

In that opening half, Arapahoe dominated possession and put eight shots on frame. After a few near-misses, Andrea Lewis broke through in the 11th minute as she knocked in her own rebound to put Arapahoe up 1-0.

Arapahoe didnt ease off of the gas pedal, and nearly scored another goal seconds later as Maggie Sexton shot just wide of the goal after a nice touch by Amanda Martinez put her in position to score.

Several minutes later, Norman made an aggressive play on a ball in the Liberty half of the field, won the tackle and ripped a shot to the low left corner that bounced off of the post and in for her teams second goal of the half.

I like to kick the ball when I get the opportunity, Norman said.

Bast said that Norman, a co-captain, is a key cog in the Arapahoe lineup, which is playing without several important members, including last years leading scorer, junior Alex Anthony, who is out with an ACL injury. Sophomore forward Lauren Conley missed the Liberty game due to illness, but will be back with the team after the break.

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Arapahoe shuts down Liberty in girls soccer