Ozark Tigers – 3
Nixa Eagles – 2
A big game in Ozark last night, with a crowd to match, and the Tiger’s stepped up in a significant way. Defeating the Nixa Eagles, after knocking off Carthage in Carthage last week, means Ozark has defeated the defending Central Ozark Conference co-champions and positioned themselves to take the crown for themselves this year. The fact that it is their biggest school rival was simply the icing, check the video interview with senior Jordan Burns (below) to get a feel for that fact.

The way the team won is as significant. Facing a 0-1 deficit after only 2 minutes when Nixa’s Kaleb Romero stole a ball and quickly buried the opportunity, Ozark responded by tying the game on a beautiful counter-attack. A trio of seniors, starting with Seth Hampton breaking out of the defensive end, sending Landon Hunter down the right who laid a beautiful square ball into the path of Zach Moore who broke in alone on goal and confidently buried the ball into the back of the net only 4 minutes later (pictured).

Nixa played some quality soccer in the 1st half, moving the ball extremely well and keeping the Tigers under constant pressure. That pressure led to their second lead of the game in the 18th minute when Tanner Pesek corraled a ball just outside the six yard box, following a corner kick, and buried his shot to the near post. The score would remain 2-1 in Nixa’s favor through the 1st half.

Ozark came out in the 2nd half re-energized. By stepping up and 1st working to win the 50/50 balls, they slowly but surely established the tempo and began to string passes together in ways that the Eagle’s had in the first half. That led to a corner kick in the 59th minute by Jordan Burns. From my angle, it appeared to be a short ball to the near post that was passed back to Seth Hampton who buried his shot to tie the game. Either that or a poor clearance, the result was what mattered and the Tiger’s pushed even harder for the winner. That would come 5 minutes later, yet again on a set piece. This time, a foul near mid-field, a long ball to the top of the box by Andrew Presnell and Ozark’s Landon Hunter (think Peter Crouch) rose above the defense and flicked a header over the keeper who was caught in no-man’s land.

A win over a rival, a District win, and a Conference win. Pretty sweet.

Springfield Catholic – 5
Marshfield Blue Jays – 0
Catholic goals by Nick Kofron, David Bailey (Taylor Arens), David Bailey (PK), Reid Harbach (PK), Taylor Arens (PK). Marshfield Keeper Nic Yonter with 21 first half saves (school record) and 36 total saves (school record).

Willard Tigers – 3
Carthage Tigers – 1
Tyler Sevon with all 3 goals for Willard

Webb City Cardinals – 3 (OT)
Monett Cubs – 2
Monett opened the scoring in the game last night in the first half at the 22nd minute on a goal by Uriel Rueda. Rueda placed a beautiful shot near post off a direct kick, giving the Cubs a 1-0 halftime lead. Webb City’s Alex Christian scored in the 52nd minute on a counter attack to tie the game at 1-1 early in the second half. The Cubs regained the advantage off of a corner kick goal by Francisco Morales in 66th minute. Austin Doran, scoring for the Cardinal’s with just 4 minutes remaining in the game, helped give Webb City momentum which they took in to overtime. Matthew Reynolds, with an assist from Christian, scored three minutes into the extra session for the game winner.

Cassville Wildcats – 3
College Heights Crusaders – 1

Bolivar Liberators – 6
Logan-Rogersville Wildcats – 1
I got out for a pair of Central Ozark Conference match ups on Tuesday. The early game featured Bolivar visiting Rogersville in my first look at these two teams. Bolivar won, going up 6-0 in the first half with goals in the 7th, 11th, 24th, 28th, 33rd and 38th minutes. Branden Roberts got the first one which you can see here. That’s Bradley Stillwagon serving him the ball. Auggie Newberry scored his first 2 varsity goals to give the Liberators a 3-0 lead. Toad Slagle, Stillwagon and Matt Magana (pictured) completed the scoring.

Jon Young scored the goal for Rogersville in the 2nd half, doing a good job of breaking in on goal and finishing the play. It was representative of what I saw from the Wildcat’s yesterday who have made great strides since I saw them a year ago. The Liberator’s are the top-ranked Class 2 school in the region and a stiff challenge for any team but this Wildcat team, which is only in it’s 2nd year of play, worked hard throughout and worked to keep the ball on the ground with movement. Thus they were prepared when the defensive breakdown gave them an opening. The record doesn’t reflect it yet but I’m very happy to see the developments on the East side.

Kickapoo Chiefs – 9
Hillcrest Hornets – 0

Camdenton Lakers – 3
Joplin Eagles – 1
Goal for Joplin scored by #14, assisted by #5, Max Duncan. Camdenton goals by Connor Agniel (Jeff Dorhauer), Nate Buttram (Jeron Sinclair), and Rader Bennett (Connor Agniel). Goals for both teams were all scored in the second half.

Waynesville Tigers – 1
Parkview Vikings – 0
Goal – Karl Dupont (1)

Ft Zumwalt E vs Washington
Lebanon vs Rolla – Lebanon