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The girls soccer season ended for the host Washington-Liberty Generals with a disappointing 2-0 loss to the Oakton Cougars in a May 23 semifinal match of the 6D North Region high-school tournament.
The setback snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak for W-L (12-5-2), which included a 3-0 record in winning the Liberty District tournament and a 4-2 first-round victory over Westfield in the region competition. The district crown was the Generals' first in 16 seasons.
Against Oakton, the ball was kept for a substantial amount of time by Washington-Liberty in Oakton’s defensive zone in the first half, but the Generals struggled to generate enough offense to break past the Cougars' defense.
After Oakton scored in quick succession to take 2-0 lead halfway through in the second half, Washington-Liberty was again not able to answer with a goal.
The game was physical, with Oakton receiving a red card and Washington-Liberty two yellows.
Generals' goalie Charlotte Kulikosky was busy and assertive in net, keeping the game close with big saves.
“Everyone’s been working hard all season," Kulikosky said. "Just the positivity with this team and the work rate has always been there. So even though things didn’t necessarily fall our way tonight, I’m proud of everyone and their effort this season.”
Washington-Liberty coach Richard Ptakowski had similar comments.
“With our togetherness, we’ve had such a great season. The girls really put it together," he said. "Since January, we worked hard through green days [offseason practices], throughout training camp, and today, it just didn’t go our way. We won the Liberty District tournament. So I couldn’t say much more as far as, we’ve reached all of our goals."
Washington-Liberty would have qualified for the Class 6 state tournament had it won the region-tournament semifinal.
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