Springfield MO Soccer

Bolivar Liberators - 3 (OT)
West Plains Zizzers - 2
Bolivar report and the West Plains report.

Cassville Wildcats - 5
Carthage Tigers - 2
The Wildcats and their explosive offense came out on top this evening. The first goal was scored by Uziel Franco who pounced on a rebound following Ryan Schlichtman’s header from a corner kick in the 3rd minute. In the 18th, the Tigers once again had difficulty clearing a ball in the box, this from a long throw-in by Aaron Jamieson. Schlichtman nodded the ball to the far post where the initial shot was once again blocked, only to see ? push the rebound just past the upright. The Wildcats got their third in the 35th minute and appeared on their way to a simple win but the Tigers weren’t giving up this evening, getting a goal in stoppage time of the first half from Joe Curti. It came courtesy of a strong run into the offensive end by Cole Beckham, whose cross created the opportunity.

The Wildcats came out in a somewhat defensive configuration in the second half, partially as a result of an injury that required some adjustments to their lineup. As a result, the Tigers were able to take advantage of the space to play their game, moving the ball via a series of short passes. It was the Wildcats who scored however, sending Schlichtman in on a counter-attack down the left where his run and shot in the 63rd minute extended the lead to 4-1. The Tigers once again responded, almost from the restart, with Matt Robinson taking a ball down the right side and into the box before he touched the ball through a group of defenders that were closing on him to get the second goal for Carthage.

The final goal was scored by #17 in the 69th minute, and sealed the win for the Wildcats who now move into the final for the second time in three years. Uziel Franco had three goals, Ryan Schlichtman had a goal and an assist and Omar Valenzuela had a goal. Anthony Larson had 11 saves in goal for Cassville.

Carthage Press game report.

The final will be played at 6:00 pm Wednesday in Bolivar.

Photos and final commentary on Tuesday. Time for bed.
Photos from Saturday can be found here and later in the Set (or Album) for your team (I’m not caught up on that for a couple of teams). From the Flickr site, at the top you can choose Archives and you’ll find an option for finding a photo on the date it was taken. Thats also where you’ll find the Sets alternative, to the right of my photo.