In the end, a little confusion cost Liberty a chance to pull off a major upset over Oakland Mills last night in the semifinals of the state 2A-1A girls soccer tournament at South Carroll.
There were 4 minutes, 27 seconds left in the scoreless game when Tyann Blissett lined up to take a direct kick from 20 yards for top-seeded Oakland Mills.
With the outcome of the game possibly on the line, confusion started to set in for the fourth-seeded Lions.
Liberty coach Lynn Stone was calling for her players to set up a defensive wall, but the wall never developed.
That set the stage for Blissett to send a blistering line-drive shot toward goalkeeper Dani Fostik, who began to reach out to make a waist-high save.
But suddenly the ball struck Liberty defender Katie Kelbaugh and caromed over Fostik's shoulder into the net for the winning goal in the 1-0 victory for Oakland Mills.
Oakland Mills will meet second-seeded Loch Raven Saturday for the title.
Blissett's goal came less than 12 minutes after she was given a yellow card that was first thought to be a red card.
The official first pulled out a red ejection card on Blissett with 16:04 left in the game, but he changed it to a yellow warning card.
"I almost had a heart attack when I saw the red card," said Oakland Mills assistant coach Gary Aherns. "The official told us the red and yellow cards stuck together."
Blissett said the yellow card "made me mad" and inspired her to kick the ball as hard as she could on the direct kick.
"I just wound up and boomed the ball toward the goal," said Blissett. "I think it was kind of a lucky shot."
"We didn't know what to expect in this game, and the field was kind of wet," said Blissett, whose Oakland Mills team (13-1-1) was heavily favored to beat Liberty (8-5-2).
But Liberty and Carroll County girls soccer gained some respect.
"I kept thinking to myself during the game what are these girls [Liberty] doing right," said Scorpions coach Nancy Shea.
Fostik kept her team in the game with 11 saves.