Springfield Catholic – 3
Nixa Eagles
Middle School, Catholic vs Pershing
The Eagles reach the final for the second straight year, and fall to the Fightin’ Irish yet again.
Catholic Repeat As Middle School Champions
Monthly Archives: May 2010
Midwest Regional League – Springfield SC U17 Fall To KC Blaze
Jackson Patillo (Willard 2011) battles KC Blaze (red)
KC Blaze Velocity – 2
In the final weekend of play for the MRL First Division, the local boys fell to the KC squad that is currently in the middle of the table with them. After a scoreless first half, the Blaze got a pair of goals in 10 minutes early in the second half from Conner Parrish (St Pius X) to gain the lead on the hosts. Springfield pushed up and scored a goal midway through the second half, by Austin Hart (Glendale) as he collected a loose ball in the box following a throw-in and dribbled across the face of the six yard box before slipping it inside the far upright. The team was unable to get a tying goal and only avoided a larger margin due a pair of quality saves by goalkeeper Levi Millsap (Catholic).
The team is made up of boys from Glendale, Kickapoo, Catholic, Carthage, Joplin, New Covenant, Marshfield, Willard from the names I recognize. Coached by Mike Seabolt (Missouri State), the league is invitation only and offers a high level of competition against teams from Chicago, St Louis, Kansas City and Springfield, IL.
There are three more games on Sunday for anyone interested in seeing the level of play, all at Cooper Soccer Complex at Lake Country Soccer.
9:00 am – KC Blaze Velocity (MO) vs Lou Fusz-Red (MO)
9:00 am – Springfield SC 92/93 (MO) vs KC Fusion Dowling (KS)
2:00 pm – Springfield SC 92/93 (MO) vs Lou Fusz-Red (MO)
The games against Lou Fusz are always entertaining, considering a 2pm afternoon in the beautiful weather.
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Class 3 District 11 – Nixa Captures 1st Ever District Title
Nixa Eagles, 2010 Class 3 District 11 Champions
#5 Nixa Eagles – 2
Senior Ashlyn Robillard stepped up in the 63rd minute this evening and buried the most important penalty kick in the Eagle’s history. Her shot, into the upper half above the keeper’s reach, provided the winning margin in the District title game, giving the Eagle’s their first ever win over the Kickapoo Chiefs and just as importantly, the program’s first Girl’s district title (the boys won in 2000? as a small school).
After a first half that saw the Eagle’s battle nerves, the only opportunities for either team came late in the half as McKenna Adams put a ball just over the crossbar after pulling the Eagle’s GK off the line and Lauren Moat’s brought the Eagle’s fans to their feet in the final minute with a hard shot from the right side that went just over the net.
So, what was the Coaches message in both team’s half time discussion? Settle down, play your game, don’t quit.
Kickapoo has been grinding out wins all season, coming back an early season 3-7 record and the loss of central midfielder Katie Lynn, beginning their climb back with a key win over Nixa April 16th, followed by two wins at their Shootout. That, despite the loss of GK McKenzie Danzer in the game at Nixa for two weeks. It appeared however that the overtime win over Glendale on Friday was more than this team could overcome this evening. The Eagle’s, without 3 starters of their own (Murphy, Zielke and Frerichs) gave significant minutes to four backups and as a result, their starters were stronger late when it mattered.
The Eagles opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second half when an overlapping run by freshman Brittany Kirkpatrick down the left side created a corner kick. Sophomore Lauren Moats was in the right spot to redirect Kirkpatrick’s resulting corner kick into the net to give the Eagle’s the early lead. The Chief’s came right back off the restart, and 30 seconds later, junior McKenna Adam’s tied the game when her corner kick skipped between goalkeeper Kristin Miller’s legs and was redirected into the goal for a Nixa own goal. Tie game and 29 minutes to play.
Robillard’s heroics came as a result of the Eagle’s group effort. A throw-in was almost cleared but Halie Owen stepped up, sent it back to Haylee Wagner who came up past a Chief’s player before Robillard sent it wide to Owen who’s cross found Jordyn Hoskin’s charging into the box. Moat’s follow up shot was handled in the box and Robillard stepped up to bury the PK.
It wasn’t over, as GK Miller was called upon to make two critical saves to protect the lead as the clock wound down. She met the challenge, shaking off the earlier mistake, and the Eagles had the hardware. The win also set an Eagle’s record for win’s in a season as Nixa enters the Sectional play with a gaudy 17-5 record.
Nixa will face Willard in the Class 3 Sectional Tuesday at Harrison Stadium. Game time is 6:30 pm. The winner faces the winner of the Rolla/Rock Bridge game on Saturday in the Quarterfinals for the opportunity to play in the Final 4.
Off to check out the TV sports reports, I’ve never seen so much coverage in my life. Is it the controversy? Let’s see what they say. I’ll have photos later tonight and we’ll see how my individual coverage held up against three TV stations and a couple of newspapers. Let me know 
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Bolivar Falls To Harrisonville In Class 2 District 5 Final
Harrisonville Wildcats, 2010 Class 2 District 5 Champions
Bolivar Liberators – 1
Harrisonville Wildcats – 2
Harrisonville goals were scored by Alex Erickson and Anna Holden. I think the Bolivar goal was from Jonna Welch. Both keeps had a great game. Bolivar’s keeper came off the line at least 6 times to stop or clear point blank shots from on rushing players. Harrisonville’s Sara Clark came up with a couple huge saves late in the game to preserve the win.
Harrisonville captures the District title from the defending champion Liberators. They will face Kansas City Notre Dame de Sion next Thursday in the state quarterfinal.
Joe McCauley Named Women’s Head Coach For Missouri S&T Miners
Joe McCAuley, Missouri S&T
McCauley takes over for Jon Kiester, who stepped down in March to accept an assistant coaching position at the University of Hawai’i. He brings 11 years of head coaching experience to the Lady Miner program, including a five-year stint within the Great Lakes Valley Conference at Bellarmine University.
“I am tremendously excited to have Joe joining our Miner family,” said Missouri S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin. “He will be an outstanding addition to our staff. He has a wealth of experience and is familiar with our league. Joe has demonstrated an understanding and a commitment to balancing academics and athletics.
“I am confident that his enthusiasm, knowledge, and communication skills will serve to move our women’s soccer program in a very positive direction. I am anxious for him to get started,” Mullin added.
Prior to taking over the program at Eckerd in 2003, McCauley served as the goalkeepers coach at Northern Illinois University for five seasons. While at NIU, he helped guide the Huskies to the Mid-American Conference championship in 1998 when they went 14-7 and posted four shutouts.
McCauley coached at Bellarmine from 1991-97 – taking over as the Knights’ head coach in 1992 – and led the Knights to back-to-back winning seasons in 1995 and 1996. In the 1995 season, Bellarmine reached the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament as it won 10 of its 17 games, then made it back to the conference tournament a year later.
A native of Louisville, Ky., McCauley was a four-year letterwinner at the University of Louisville and was named as the Cardinals’ most valuable player in 1987, along with earning Metro Conference all-tournament team honors. During that season, McCauley posted a 2.06 goals against average as the team’s goalkeeper and co-captain. As a senior, he recorded a 1.60 goals against mark.
He began his coaching career at Louisville in 1990 as the goalkeepers coach, then moved over to Bellarmine to join the Knights’ staff a year later.
McCauley has also been active with the Olympic Development Program, working with teams in Kentucky and Illinois as the state head coach. In that capacity, he was responsible for the selection and training of the state’s top talent for competition at the regional level and guided the Girls Under 18 Illinois State team to the ODP national championship in 1995.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Louisville in 1992.
Class 3 District 11 Final Will Feature #3 Kickapoo vs #5 Nixa
Emily Cline (Glendale) battles Kaylee Stephens (Kickapoo)
#3 Kickapoo Chiefs – 3 (1st OT)
The Chief’s senior class – Lauryn Young, Emily Brooks, Megan Melugin and Hilary Carr – picked an opportune time to get their first win in four years against their peers at Glendale.
The Chiefs will play the Nixa Eagles in the Final tomorrow, Saturday at 6:30 pm, at JFK Stadium
Kickapoo’s first goal, scored by Marin Gelsheimer from 30 yards
Molly Brewer’s goal line clearance, and injury, following Megan Melugin’s header over the on-rushing goalkeeper
NOTE – this story was modified with the receipt of news that MSHSAA has called the game between Parkview and Nixa on Wednesday a complete game.
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Nixa Eagles Advance To District 11 Final
Nixa Eagles celebrate Lauren Moats (#6) goal against Parkview
C. DURATION OF GAME/OVERTIME PROCEDURES: All games will be 80 minutes in length divided into two equal halves of 40 minutes each.
5. In the event a game must be suspended because of conditions which make it impossible to continue play, the head referee shall declare it an official game if one complete half or more of the game has been played and a winner can be determined (score is not tied).
I have had conversations with all four coaches involved in the semifinals in the past two days regarding the possible outcomes. What I have come away with from those conversations are several opinions:
* A renewed respect for the coaches involved and their desire to allow the girls to play the game in a safe and competitive way
* While it took longer to make a decision then I would have liked, it points to the efforts that Mark Fisher made to give the Parkview girls the opportunity to play a second half of soccer. Kudos Mr Fisher!
* MSHSAA needs to provide an alternate model for playoff soccer.
While the ruling is clear, what it doesn’t take into account is the importance of playoff soccer. The Laws of the Game in fact don’t recognize anything but a complete game, noting that an Abandoned Match is replayed unless the competition rules provide otherwise. MSHSAA has modified the rules to meet a need they have identified but I would call on the Rules Committee to consider a rider for playoff soccer. Can we avoid this scenario with some patience and a modification of the rules to allow a full game be played. If a similar scenario plays out in June during the Final Four, would this be considered satisfactory? I don’t believe so. MSHSAA defines the Purpose of District and State competitions thusly:
There are two primary purposes that justify and cause district and state events to be desirable. Those purposes: to provide opportunities to demonstrate before the public the best knowledge, skills, and emotional patterns taught through a particular sport; to evaluate and compare the best of this teaching of knowledge, skills and emotional patterns among schools. Unless these purposes are primary, district and state athletic contests cannot be completely justified.
The decision is made and it’s time to move forward. That’s one of the unfortunate lessons from this experience. Should we come up with an alternative approach?
In my conversations with Head Coach Evan Palmer of the Nixa Eagles, he stressed that their approach has been in anticipation of playing the second half, including practice yesterday focused on Parkview’s strengths. He also noted as well the agreement he was part of to continue to the game. It is that agreement, among the Coaches and Site Administrator, to continue the game that MSHSAA has ruled against. The Eagles now need to focus on the winner of the game between Glendale and Kickapoo tonight.
For Head Coach Clint Nurnberg, an understanding of the rules and the decision that has been made is something he is still coming to grips with. He is facing it, along with his players, in a 2:00 pm meeting called to give him an opportunity to share with them the results and the reason for the delay in this posting.
He was philosphical, without spite, but he also shared the unfortunate aspects of the decision – the game was abandoned to ensure the safety of the players. With an agreement among the coaches it would be better to continue the game 24 hours later rather than attempting to wait out a significant storm, it was a decision based on logic. Can we prevent this scenario in the future and allow the game to be decided on the pitch over 80 minutes?
UPDATE:
Parkview girls’ soccer season hangs on appeal
State officially denies Parkview soccer team’s appeal
Viking Season Ends in 40 minute Loss
Lady Eagles declared winner of rain-shortened District 11 match
Class 2 District 5 Final Set – #1 Harrisonville vs #2 Bolivar
Izzy Mersch, Bolivar Liberators (2011)
#2 Bolivar Liberators – 4
#3 Warrensburg Tigers – 1
The Liberators opened the scoring in the 10th minute, by Jonna Welch only to see the Tiger’s tie it in the 37th, by Brenna Lacaillade from Kaitie Whitney and Christy Crouse. Midfielder Izzy Mersch got what proved to be the game winner in the final minute of the first half. Bolivar added two late goals, by Sarah Magana and Jonna Welch, in the final 5 minutes for the ultimate margin.
Shots WHS 19, BHS 13 and Corners WHS 5 BHS 1 from Warrensburg.
The Liberators will face the Harrisonville Wildcats on Saturday in the District final. The game will be played at 2:30 pm at Bolivar High School.
Class 3 District 12 – Willard Tigers Capture 1st Ever District Title
Brittany Dunn, Willard Tigers (2011)
#1 Willard Tigers – 1 (PKs)
#2 Joplin Eagles – 0
Scoreless after regulation and two overtime periods, the Tiger’s get the win with a 3-1 advantage in the shootout. The News-Leader offers a story on the game.
This is the first District title for the Willard Tigers. They reached the District Final for the first time two years ago when they lost to Springfield Catholic when there were only two classes.
The Tiger’s will face the winner of the Kickapoo vs Nixa game next Tuesday in the Class 3 Sectional. The game will be played at Harrison Stadium beginning at 6:30 pm.
