Mac girls outlast Liberty in high-scoring affair

In a game where both teams could seemingly score at will, it was the McMinnville girls who came away with a 5-4 victory over the Liberty Falcons in their league opener on Tuesday at Wortman Stadium.

The win was McMinnville’s second on the season, as it begins league play on a positive note.

Liberty got on the board just two minutes in, jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

“That woke us up,” head coach Karly Mingus said. “We were thinking we cannot lose this quickly.”

McMinnville responded with a goal of its own, and a shootout commenced. Eva Johnson, Esmeralda Arenas and Noemi Juarez all scored for the Grizzlies. Even with the offensive output, the Falcons held a 4-3 lead late in the second half.

Mingus went to the bench for a set of fresh legs, bringing on Nahla Nelson, who scored the match’s final two goals, including the game-winner with two minutes remaining.

For the Grizzlies, the five goals matched their season total to that point. For Mingus, this game showed what they are capable of on a game-to-game basis.

“We are definitely a scoring team,” Mingus said. “We opened the floodgates. The excitement of seeing one go in and coming back, they really fed off of that.”

“It’s good to grasp that, it got us a win, and hopefully that will continue moving forward.”

The Grizzlies took on Glencoe on Thursday, where the results were too late for print, and will host Sherwood on Monday.