This Week In Southwest Missouri Soccer

Whew, home from Ft Worth and happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. The wedding went well, the drives were uneventful and I appreciate Missouri even more after a week in Texas. That place is windy!

Only three weeks left before Districts begin. That combines with lot’s of good High School action this week, starting with a pair of new derby’s that will answer some key questions.

UPDATE – Wed 5pm – Catholic vs. Greenwood – Catholic High School
18:30 – Ozark vs. Glendale – OHS Turf Field

The top two teams in Class 1 and Class 3 face off this evening. The #2 state-ranked Catholic (10-5) girls will host #4 state-ranked Greenwood (9-1). These two will likely see each other again in the District 6 Final, so this is the preliminary skirmish.

The storyline is similar in Class 3, the primary difference being the state recognition, or in this case the lack of. These two teams should be the top seeds in District 11 AND those games will be played at Ozark on the artificial surface so the Falcon’s will be focused on testing their game against both the Tigers and the surface.

Then we’ll see how they do May 5th when Rolla visits, as the Bulldogs are currently the top state-ranked team in the region and the likely Quarterfinal foe for Glendale or Ozark. That’s right, I expect one of these two teams to win the Sectional over either Joplin or Neosho.

There are no guarantees as we all eventually learn. Tuesday offers Lebanon vs Rolla, a game with plenty of undercurrents. The Yellowjackets Falcon’s kept Rolla from reaching the District Final last year for the first time since the Bulldogs began playing soccer in the mid-90’s. The Yellowjackets were the finalists the past two years, upsetting Glendale and then Waynesville in the semi-finals, and again have the tools needed to reach their 3rd straight District final, but do they have the will? This is the week for them as they will also host District foe Camdenton on Thursday. The Laker’s lost in PK’s to the Bulldogs last week.

Class 1 has another key matchup this week when Laquey hosts Richland. Both teams are part of District 6 and Laquey can grab the #3 spot with a few wins in the final weeks. Thursday’s game will be a good start.

Champions League continues with the first leg of the Semifinals, the second leg will be next week. Two of these teams will survive to play in the Champions League Final on May 27th.

Tuesday 13:30 – Chelsea at Barcelona (ESPN2)
Wednesday 13:30 – Arsenal at ManU (ESPN2)

The Missouri State Bears wrap up their Spring season this week. The men head to Kansas City on Wednesday, where they will take on the KC Wizards Reserve team. They will also be hosting their Alumni game this Saturday at 1pm.
Wed 11:00 – MSU Bears @ KC Wizards

The Women play host to D2 Missouri Southern on Friday.
Friday 18:00 – MSU vs MSSU – Plaster Stadium

OK, now when’s Cinco de Mayo again?