Liberty High School’s girls’ and boys’ soccer teams came up short in the East Penn Conference Soccer Tournament on Saturday, when the Hurricane boys lost to Stroudsburg 3-1, and the Hurricane girls lost to Whitehall 3-0.

In both games, Liberty’s opponents scored very early in the first half to take 1-0 leads.

Stroudsburg coach Michael Kane believed that Matt McDermott’s goal in the fourth minute may have thrown the Hurricanes off their game somewhat.

“We high-pressured them in the back, the ball bounced our way, and Matt McDermott finished it for us,” Kane said.

In the 25th minute, the Hurricanes had two good opportunities when shots were taken by Trevor Koski and Lloyd Netherlin, but it was John Burns from Stroudsburg who scored the Mountaineers’ second goal on an assist by Adam Malik at 14:48.

In the final three minutes of the first half, Valentine Perevalov took a shot for Liberty that veered to the right, landing outside the goal, and Netherlin just missed to the left. An attempt was also made by Sammy Abiles.

Regarding Stroudsburg goalkeeper, Luc Cibischino, Coach Kane said, “He really stepped up today. He’s a gamer. He came up big for us.”

Despite the 2-0 halftime lead, the Mountaineers refused to get comfortable, especially after having lost to the Hurricanes earlier in the season.

“We knew what Liberty had,” said Kane.

Netherlin’s persistence in the first half paid off when he scored within the first eight minutes of the second half. Soon after, Chase Tackett kicked away a shot on goal by Stroudsburg, but Wesley Pasciak scored Stroudsburg’s third goal with approximately 25:00 left in the game.

“We played a full 80 minute game today,” said Kane. “I guess the boys wanted some revenge.”

Liberty’s season is not over, however, as the Hurricanes will compete in the district tournament later next week.