Liberty North boys soccer: District champions look forward
LIBERTY, Mo. — After winning the district championship in 2018, Liberty North boys soccer had some tough seasons playing the biggest and best soccer programs in the metro, finishing with less than seven wins for three consecutive years. That changed in the fall of 2022. The Eagles played with a frenzy last season, going undefeated at home and sweeping the district tournament, where they outscored opponents 10-1. The Eagles scored 2.5 goals per game while playing lights-out defense, giving up just 1 goal per game and earning 11 shutouts. The district championship was the third in program history.
Head Coach Art Smith and the 2023 Eagles are ready to return to the field this fall. This is Coach Smith’s 14th season as head coach. He has been coaching in the Liberty school district for 25 years. Smith grew up with soccer, playing it his whole life and on the high school team at Sumner Academy. His father was the head soccer coach of Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas.
“The game has been a big part of my life, and I’ve always enjoyed it,” says Smith. “From a player perspective, there is so much opportunity for creativity and teamwork. From a coaching standpoint, every year is different. You get to work with each player on different skills and different mindsets. Every new year brings a new kind of puzzle to figure out.”
For Coach Smith, a big part of that puzzle this season will be a great core of returning seniors that provide their experience and leadership.
Senior Ozonna Ugbaja looks to have a significant impact this season. He was 1st Team All-Region, All-District, and All-Conference last year. The highly skilled forward scored 6 goals and had 2 assists.
Ugbaja, whose favorite subject in school is biology, has played the game his whole life. Last season was his first with North as he played for the Sporting KC Academy club. This year-round national travel team does not allow its players to participate in high school sports. He decided to stop playing for them before his junior year.
“He’s been somebody that didn’t play with us his freshman or sophomore year,” says Smith. “He came to our program as a complete player, with many different aspects to his game. He adds a great deal of value to the team from many different perspectives.”
“I like everything about soccer,” says Ugbaja. “I like how the team works together and the tactics that go into it. I like how all that flows together, and then the finish at the end of it, a goal is scored. I find that really entertaining to watch and to do myself.”
Ugbaja is confident and motivated. He believes in himself, his coaches, and his teammates.
“I’m a very ambitious person,” says Ugbaja. “I want to keep the success going and win the district again. We need to win the conference and make it as far as possible. I want to win state. I want us to win those three big competitions. I am very ambitious. I think it is possible.”
“This team has family values. If we are going to be a good team, we need to spend a lot of time together, like a family. We have to know each other. The better we know each other, the better we will play. It will show up on the field. That chemistry helps when you are working to win,” continues Ugbaja.
“This year, we have a number of guys that have been playing a lot of varsity minutes for a long time,” says Smith. “We have players like Brody Phipps, Jack Watson, Kaiden Murry, Kade Ohara, and Kade Moore. We hope that we’ve got a group that can be the backbone of a good run this year as well.”
Senior forward Kade Moore, whose favorite subject in school is ELA, is the leading returning scorer on the team, with 8 goals in 2022.
“It felt good after all the hard work,” says Moore. “For my first year on varsity, it was just nice to get a good result.”
Moore is another lifetime soccer player, who started playing at age six. He plays for the Sporting City North club when he isn’t on the pitch for Liberty North. All the players have to go through a transition, moving from their club teams and back to the Eagles for the school season.
“The coaches have to work hard with the players to find their best players for each spot, so we will be the most successful,” says Moore. “It might not be where you play on your club team.”
For Moore, the best advice he’s been given in the game is to “trust my teammates, even if I haven’t played with them for long,” says Moore. “Just trust them, and they’ll have my back every game, every practice.”
All-State Honorable Mention Jack Watson will return to the Eagles. He was 2nd Team All-Conference and 1st Team All-Region. He finished last season with 5 goals and 3 assists.
Another returning midfielder is Brody Phipps, who was 1st Team All-Conference and 2nd Team All-District. He had 3 goals and 6 assists in 2022. For Phipps, soccer has been his primary sport since the 4th grade. He started playing when he was three. In the past season, Phipps also played on a traveling club team that went to Greensboro, Wichita, Springfield, and St. Louis tournaments.
“We’re bringing back some key guys this season. I think we can make a strong push for another district championship and conference and hopefully, more,” says Phipps.
Reflecting on his senior season, Phipps says, “You just have to enjoy it because you only have four years, and it goes by so fast. You can make so many friends and memories throughout. The fall season only lasts a couple months. You just have to enjoy it. Winning the district championship was really great. We struggled for a few seasons, so getting that was great.
“The coaches have created this environment that everyone really enjoys being a part of,” says Phipps. “They have helped us not just to grow in the game, but to grow into men.”
Senior defender Kade Ohara, returns as a 2nd Team All-Conference and 2nd Team All-District player in 2022. He had 2 goals and 6 assists for the season.
“Last season was refreshing as a player,” says Ohara. “You want to win, and it was just nice when the wins were coming. Players were coming together, and better friendships were formed in the end. The win against Park Hill South – they鈥檙e an excellent team. So that’s a good win any time. Another memorable game was with rival Liberty.鈥�
Ohara is focused on what the Eagles must do this season.
“We had a lot of players that graduated,” says Ohara. “So, we have to start playing with all these new people and train to get ready for those big games.”
The Eagles had an excellent summer off-season training. They have a couple of tournaments to start the year, then begin regular season play on September 12 against Platte County.
“We use our first couple tournaments to build chemistry, camaraderie, build an identity, and fine-tune who we are and what we want to do each season,” says Smith.
“From a training perspective, we just really try to do a couple of things,” adds Smith. “We do a lot of technical work with our players and a lot of fast footwork with them so that everything becomes one and two-touch play. We try to have everything we do be competitive but enjoyable and fun.”
For the Liberty North program, this game that has been a big part of Coach Smith’s life, and the lives of the athletes who have grown up playing, is about much more than the games won or the banners earned. It is about life.
“Seasons can ebb and flow. Wins and losses can ebb and flow. But the relationships that you build with the kids, how you go about your business, how you treat kids, and how you run your program鈥攁ll that stuff resonates long after they graduate,” says Smith. “In the end, the things that live on are the relationship with your teammates, your memories, and the preparation for their next steps in life. I hope what we do in our program, how we work with kids, and how we treat and talk to them in this process is helping prepare them for life.”
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