Liberty freshman Lindsey Heffernan came off the bench and scored the Hurricanes’ winning goal in its 1-0 victory over Allentown Central Catholic on Saturday at Liberty.

“It was nice,” said Heffernan. “The goalie hit it instead of catching it and I just kicked it in. I was pretty focused [afterward] because I knew if we let another goal go in, then it didn’t matter at all.”

Throughout the second half, Liberty coach Scott Rodenbach took opportunities to encourage the Hurricanes to do exactly what Heffernan, on an assist by Kathryn Wescoe, had done.

“He said to go up at every ball, and press the ball every time it goes up there,” Heffernan said.

Defensively, Liberty goalkeeper Bridget MacDonald had her hands full with the Vikings.

“Our defense always makes it interesting on the back end. They’ve come a long way and they’ve taken a lot of pressure off me,” MacDonald said. “Toward the end there was a corner kick, they crossed it into the box, and I got my hand on it, but it came back and I caught it over a really tall girl, or that probably would have been a goal.”

The Vikings played the Hurricanes hard and had possession for most of the second half.

“Their record does not reflect how they play, and they outplayed us,” said Liberty coach Scott Rodenbach. “With all these years all these girls have played together, we can’t keep making silly mistakes and putting ourselves in the hole. Our freshman pulled us out of the fire by hustling and following up a shot, and we talk about that all the time.”

MacDonald also kept the Hurricanes out of the fire.

“This was one of the better games for Bridget. Being short has hurt her at times, but she moves around, she opens her mouth more, and that is a big plus for us,” Rodenbach said.

Liberty’s record is 4-2 as of Saturday’s game, and the Hurricanes have a four-game week ahead.