The Park Hill South boys soccer team made sure history would not repeat itself as they steamrolled Liberty North by a score of 5-1 to secure the Class 4 District 8 championship on Nov. 10 at Staley High School.
Park Hill South’s second district title in three years came against a Liberty North team that had previously been a thorn in the Panthers’ side. South wrote a new chapter of history by defeating the defending district champion Eagles, a team that beat South in last year’s district championship via penalty shootout and in the 2022 district final as well.
While winning a district title is always memorable, defeating an opponent with the head-to-head history of Liberty North by a four-goal margin made it even more special for the Panthers. Park Hill South head coach Chris Farmer was delighted to get that monkey off his team’s back after the Eagles had won four consecutive matches against the Panthers, last losing to South in 2020.
“No disrespect to Liberty North,” Farmer said. “But because they are such a good team, to have that scoreline against them, it just speaks to the effort that our boys put in and how hard they worked.”
Sophomore Nazzal Odeh kisses the Park Hill South crest after scoring to make it 3-0 in the first half of the Panthers’ district championship victory against Liberty North.
Despite the frigid temperatures, the Panthers remained relentless throughout the night. South’s dynamic attack was led by sophomore Nazzal Odeh, who recorded the first hat trick of his high school career at the best time possible.
“This is a revenge game for the seniors that left and the current seniors,” Odeh said. “I just feel amazing right now.”
Leading up to the match, Farmer never spoke to his team about their previous struggles against Liberty North. The focus was on disrupting a Liberty North team that had scored 12 goals in its opening two district matches, and Farmer was thrilled for his team to deliver in such a big way — executing their game plan to perfection in a pressure-filled situation.
“As soon as the first whistle goes, leave it all on the field,” Farmer said. “It’s cliché, but we couldn’t come out and let them get in any kind of rhythm. We wanted to get there from the beginning, set the tempo, control the midfield and control the pace of the game.”
It took 15 minutes for the Panthers to open the scoring, when Nate Bartram corralled a long ball from defender Noah Stephens. After fighting off a defender, Bartram created enough space to fire a shot goalwards, as the goalkeeper was unable to make the save and the ball hit the back of the net.
Less than 10 minutes later, Park Hill South doubled its advantage from a corner kick. Nick Parra delivered the assist for senior midfielder Ty Zimmerman, who was unmarked and perfectly finished his 13th goal of the season by skipping his header off the turf and in from seven yards out.
Senior midfielder Ty Zimmerman, right, celebrates his goal alongside Will Bowne, left.
“He’s a man among boys out there,” Farmer said of Zimmerman. “He’s wide open, and if you leave him wide open on a corner, you might as well just be pulling the ball out of the back of your net because you know it’s going to happen.”
While Liberty North had hoped to get into halftime down by just a pair of goals, a misplayed long ball presented another opportunity for the Panthers inside the final minute. After touching the ball around the Eagles’ last line of defense, Odeh calmly swept the ball into an empty net from three yards out to make it 3-0 at halftime.
Park Hill South celebrates a second-half goal against Liberty North.
The Eagles showed some life in the second half, but things got worse when Odeh scorched the ball into the top corner with his right foot in the 51st minute. After receiving the ball from Zimmerman, Odeh danced past a defender before stretching to strike the ball for his second goal of the evening.
With hopes of a comeback dashed, Liberty North did get some offensive penetration from a corner kick, rattling the crossbar before a follow-up attempt headed goalwards was blocked. The Eagles eventually did find their breakthrough with less than 15 minutes to go on a cross from the right side that was neatly finished by junior forward Lesyk Ivanov.
Chasing his hat trick, Odeh finally got it in the final minutes after returning to the match as a substitute. Micah Wright raced down the left side and found Odeh, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, as the forward cut the ball to his left while the onrushing goalkeeper went the other way before setting himself up for another short-distance finish to make it 5-1.
“I’ve been wanting this moment for a while,” Odeh said. “I showed out today, told my friends and family I was going to score three today, and I got it.”
Odeh’s three-goal performance capped off a breakout showing from him in the district tournament. He scored twice in the Panthers’ district opener against Oak Park on Nov. 3 and once in the district semifinal against Staley on Nov. 5.
“To see him come alive like that in districts is awesome,” Farmer said. “He was sort of trying to find his way towards the end of the season, but he has really turned it on in districts and we just hope that continues on.”
Junior Henry Lisenby turns upfield against Liberty North.
The Panthers have now won eight of their last nine matches and outscored their district opponents 14-3 across the last three matches. Aside from Odeh’s six goals, the Panthers’ scoring in districts was spread out with Will Bowne scoring three times, Zimmerman scoring twice and Bartram, Micah Wright and Henry Lisenby each scoring once.
Park Hill South now sits 17-5 and advances to face Blue Springs South in the state quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 15.