This Week In Soccer in Southwest Missouri

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High School girls soccer begins today! I’ll be driving back from St Louis in time to take in the inaugural game for two new girls programs this season. The Carthage Tigers are hosting the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats at 5pm and I plan to be there to document it. It’s a Central Ozarks Conference match and I’m looking forward to participating as the game continues to grow here in Southwest Missouri.

Other games being played today include the Pleasant Hope Pirates are hosting District foes Springfield Catholic while the Camdenton Lakers have the Richland Bears coming to town.

Two additional programs will play their inaugural games on Tuesday, weather permitting. The Branson Pirates will play host to the Log-Rog Wildcats and the Carl Junction Bulldogs will host their large school neighbor, the Joplin Eagles. A week of firsts while the majority of the Springfield teams wait until next week to play due to Spring Break. Ozark travels to Harrison, Willard to Pleasant Hope and Waynesville hosts Helias on Tuesday.

West Plains will kick off in Harrison (AR) on Wednesday and Thursday sees a flurry of activity. My schedule Thursday opens with the Hillcrest Hornets hosting the Marshfield Blue Jays. Log-Rog plays their 3rd game in 4 days with their first home game, against Pleasant Hope. Carl Junction hosts Carthage, the Nixa Eagles open their season with a visit to West Plains while Springfield Catholic hosts the Lebanon Yellowjackets. I may be able to catch the Catholic Varsity at 6pm as well.

Rolla opens their season Friday with the Central Federal Tourney, site of Mike Howard’s 500th win last March. Parkview heads for Carthage while Kickapoo and Ozark host a round robin with a pair of KC teams. Blue Springs South and Park Hill South play Kickapoo and Ozark on Friday, while Saturday the visitors will visit Ozark and Kickapoo. I think the round robin games should be great openers for the teams involved and worth a trip out for anyone interested in the girls game. I’ll be in St Louis this weekend so I’ll be trying to get an early peek at potential playoff opponents. Alternately I’ll be able to catch some competitive Club games at the Metro United College Showcase.

Oh, and we can’t forget – the US Men’s team continues their road to South Africa with an away game in El Salvador on Saturday. The rosters have been announced, training began today and the game will be broadcast live at 8 pm on Saturday on ESPN2.

The KC Wizards will also be playing on Saturday night, in this case at the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids lost to Chivas, with Matt Pickens (MSU 2002) getting the start. Did anyone make it to the home opener Saturday? Any plans for attending future games? I’d love to share your game reports with the readers of this website.