Team of the Week: Liberty High School boy’s soccer

LIBERTY, Mo. — Patience is paying off for a determined soccer team on the rise.

Nothing much gets past Liberty High School’s boys soccer program. MaxPreps ranks the Blue Jays in the top 10 in the Show-Me State.

Liberty (10-1) is working a tough district schedule, but they’ve managed a seven-game win streak as part of this season’s schedule. Tom Rottjakob, the Blue Jays’ 26th year head coach, has a senior-heavy roster that’s using defense as its primary weapon.

“We have to defend as a team and attack as a team,” Rottjakob said this week.

Through its first ten games, Liberty racked up six shutout victories. That’s not bad for a team seeking its first district championship since 2021.

“It starts during the summer in the weight room. They’re working hard and the new freshmen coming in know, we’ve got to step it up,” Rottjakob added.

Scoring isn’t a problem for this club, either. Through 11 matches this season, the Jays have scored 38 times. Upperclassmen at LHS say they’ve been waiting for this program to pop.

“We’ve grown a lot as a team on and off the field,” Mason Medellin, a Liberty senior who plays right back, said. “Defensively, we’re winning the ball when we’re needing to win the ball. Offensively, we’re taking care of our chances when we get them.”

“I definitely think we were overlooked at the beginning of the season, but now, coming into almost halfway through, I’d say teams aren’t really overlooking us anymore,” Lennon Camara, senior center back, said.

One might say this program’s glory days are here now. Liberty High has never won a state championship, but this big start to the season paired with nine seniors, brings hope that this program takes another big step.

The Jays return to action Thursday at 7 p.m. Senior night for Liberty High brings Park Hill South to town for a home match.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.