Springfield Catholic Opens At Ozark Monday

After West Plains successful start to the season in Harrison on Saturday, we begin a regular slate of games in the region today. I’ve got four games identified on my calendar, which you can find on the right hand side of my website. The Home team is listed first and the start time generally reflects the JV game. Where I am aware of Varsity games starting first, primarily at Hillcrest, Logan-Rogersville and Parkview, teams who do not have lights on their pitch, I’ll make a note of that.

4:30 pm Logan-Rogersville vs Carthage (V 1st)
5:00 pm Ozark vs Catholic
5:00 pm Richland vs Camdenton Moved to Wednesday, Varsity-only
5:00 pm Lebanon vs Helias

The Central Ozarks Conference kicks off the season with a pair of quality games. A pair of second year squads will face off when the L-R Wildcats host Carthage. I’m certain both teams will remember their inaugural games, when LogRog traveled to Carthage last year to open the season and the program with a 2-1 OT win. Can Carthage get some revenge this year?

On the experience ladder, there’s a big one tonight as well, as the Ozark Tigers host Springfield Catholic. While the only games that really matter occur during District playoffs and beyond, this one offers plenty of tradition and quality play which makes it my first stop this season. For some background, let’s see what each team’s website offers:

From the Ozark Tiger Soccer website, one of eighteen websites hosted for free by SGFsoccer.com here in the region:

The Lady Tigers lost both matches to Catholic during the current senior’s freshman year. The first 0-2 and the second 0-1. But the tide turned during their sophomore year, and the Lady Tigers celebrated Coach Davidson’s 500th career win with a 1-0 victory over the Lady Irish. The winning continued last year for the Lady Tigers as they escaped with an exciting 2-1 golden goal overtime victory over their rivals from Springfield Catholic.

The Lady Irish have not forgotten the results of the past two years and look back even further:

The Lady Irish and Lady Tigers have had a long and storied rivalry since the beginning of both programs in 1998. Catholic and Ozark met in six district championship matches between 1999 and 2006 with the Irish winning four and Ozark winning two of those contests. Ozark also won the 2000 district championship after defeating Catholic in the semifinal. Ozark moved up in classification in 2007, but the rivalry has remained intense with the Lady Tigers defeating the Lady Irish each of the past two seasons.

So there you have it. Plenty to get excited about as we begin a new season. Here’s a look at the 2005 District title game between the two. The Tiger’s did some reminiscing as well, pointing to an early video interview I did three years ago with a trio of then freshman, now seniors. Megan Gunnells, Megan Stodden (Aurora) and Megan Jenisch (Missouri Southern) stood out in that early game and have continued their strong play. Enjoy this look back before tonight’s opener.

In addition to these three, Ozark will start three addtional seniors, including All-State keeper Paige Hemphill and Rachel Haden, both SBU Bearcat recruits as well as Alicia Collard. For Catholic, their are three seniors, led by Erin Fitzgerald, Veronica Renner and Rachel Herron.