With the playoffs now assured, the Charles Henderson soccer team has turned its attention to improving as much as it can between now and the start of the postseason.

CHHS had its first opportunity to play after locking up a playoff berth Saturday when it played in a tournament in Montgomery.

“The tournament wasn’t too bad,” Lieb said. “Out of the three games, we lost two close ones, so I think we played pretty well.”

The Trojans dropped games to and No. 6 ranked LAMP, but was able to tie No. 7 ranked Gulf Shores.

The loss to LAMP was a 2-0 defeat, and Lieb said being able to play well against good teams was an encouraging sign for the Trojans.

“We tied the No. 7 ranked team in the state, and we lost a close game to the No. 6 ranked team, so we’re pretty excited there,” Lieb said.

The close loss and tie is especially impressive considering the Trojans were dealing with injury issues and were viewing the tournament as almost an extended practice session.

“We had a couple of injuries, so we had some players that weren’t able to play, so we were kind of looking at this as practice,” Lieb said. “We were kind of hoping to just be able to learn some things this weekend.”

Lieb also said the team’s performance showed where it is compared to a season ago.

“When we played in the same tournament last year, we got beat 8-0 in one game, so we’ve come a long way since then,” Lieb said. “The team has really done a good job of coming together.”

The team’s defense, especially, was something Lieb was proud of.

“On defense, I thought we were pretty strong, especially with having guys out due to injury,” Lieb said. “Our goalie made some good saves for us, so that was a good sign.”

With the tournament now behind them, the Trojans must now turn their attention to their next game, which is Thursday at Eufaula.

In order to have success against Eufaula, Lieb said there were things that needed to change from the team’s tournament play.

“I don’t think we took the chances up front that we needed to take,” Lieb said.

“We also our lost our midfield a little bit at times.”