With three matches remaining, the Liberty girls soccer team is starting to finally hit their stride as the postseason is in their sights.

The Patriots have now won four of their last five games after a 3-1 win over Inglemoor on Oct. 14 at Liberty High School.

“We are just continuing to get better every match. There are little things we have been working on, but it’s always good when you concede a goal to answer right back. That was a good response from us, responding to that goal,” Head Coach Ryan Johnson said.

A familiar face made her way back into the starting lineup after battling a couple of injuries and now is finally back to her normal work rate and making a difference. That face was junior Addie Streur.

“She’s a very dynamic player. It’s hard when you don’t have that. Our attack was a little stagnant without that because she’s creative and can score at any moment,” Johnson said. Streur waited just five minutes to make her mark on the game and on a set piece scored her first goal back as a starting forward.

“It was really exciting to get almost back to full minutes today,” Streur said.

After a header on a corner from a Liberty player, Streur had her back to the goal and basically deflected the ball off her hip around the Inglemoor goalkeeper. “That was pretty exciting. I was kind of surprised it went in, it kind of just bounced off my hip. It was really good to finally get one after almost seven months. I had been getting really close in all my other games, but just not quite finishing it. It was a big relief,” Streur said.

Sophomore Annalisa Hall makes a pass for Liberty against Inglemoor. Ben Ray / The Reporter

A Liberty attack that was a bit one dimensional with just Morgan Ackermann up top, now has an added flavor in Streur. Ackermann, a sophomore, and Streur, a junior, both use their speed and high soccer IQ to put a ton of pressure on opponents defenses.

“They are on both sides, so you have to cover both. It’s hard because you can’t focus on one, you have to focus on two. That frees everything up for other players to step in,” Johnson said.

In the second half, Inglemoor got on the board with a goal, and a breakdown defensively from Liberty on a free kick just let the Vikings back in the game. But two minutes later in the 48th minute of the game, Liberty responded and it was Skyla Yu taking the lead back for the Patriots.

After allowing Inglemoor to level, the response from Liberty could not have been better.

The Patriots were gifted an own goal in the 65th minute, which really was the finishing touch on a great performance. If the Inglemoor defender didn’t put the ball in their own net, Streur was right there to score the Ackermann cross either way. “I love playing with her. I think we have similar playing styles and it is nice because we are able to click into that really easily,” Streur said.

Ackermann brings a physical presence on the field that forces opponents to deal with that part of her game. Liberty feeds off that physicality as a team as well.

“We feed off that, she sets that example. She started that as a freshman last year. She was always in hard on tackles. Addie is the same way and it just carries on to the next season. That helps set the tone,” Johnson said.

The win clinched a playoff berth for Liberty and with Lake Washington (15 points), Eastlake (3 points) and Bellevue (16 points) left on the schedule, there are no easy games remaining as the Patriots head to the postseason. Liberty has the opportunity to fine tune themselves as the competition gets better, without the pressure of making the postseason on the line.

Mia Carr looks for a teammate to pass to for Liberty. Ben Ray / The Reporter

“I just want to see continued improvement. Just improving every game, I know we have been trying to improve on set pieces. We just have to keep working on it and get better at it,” Johnson said.

Streur’s focus is against Bellevue. They are the lone 3A team left on the Patriots’ schedule and the final game of the season on Oct. 23.

“We just need to stay connected. Something we struggled with at the start of the season was combining and playing together. But we have gotten better at that as we watched more film and training. We have figured out where people should play and what works,” Streur said.