The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region Team, formerly All-Midwest, for 2014 spring campaign includes eleven players from Missouri. Of the eleven, three come from the Ozark Conference – Nicole Howard of the Rolla Bulldogs, Kindra Lierz of the Glendale Falcons and Whitney Snow of the Camdenton Lakers. [Read more…] about Howard, Lierz and Snow Named to NSCAA All-Region Squad
Ozarks Conference
Rolla and Carthage Pursue Class 2 Glory
It was a big weekend of soccer for the Carthage Tigers and Rolla Bulldogs. Close to home the #5 state-ranked Tigers came to Springfield and knocked off a top Class 3 program by defeating Glendale 1-0 in penalty kicks on Thursday, followed closely by their Parkview Tournament Championship that concluded with a 2-0 victory over Springfield Catholic. That’s some pretty good soccer and points to the Tigers being one of the top programs in the region, regardless of class.
For the #3 state-ranked Bulldogs, it was a tournament championship in St Louis at the Parkway West Tournament. They opened play on Friday against the host Parkway West, ranked #2 in Class 2 in the first poll of the season, and came away with a 3-1 victory powered by two set piece goals, a towering header from their leading scorer Aaron Froehlich bracketed by a pair of goals from senior Austin Park. His first came on a header he ran onto on the edge of the six yard box from a second chance on a corner kick, his brace completed when he wove through three defenders as he dribbled into the box from the right and buried his shot past the keeper.
PHOTO GALLERY – Rolla at Parkway West
They followed with a pair of wins on Saturday against Parkway North (4-0) and Parkway South (5-2) that culminated in the Tourney title when West got past Francis Howell, ranked 4th in the current St Louis rankings.
The last time the two teams met, [Read more…] about Rolla and Carthage Pursue Class 2 Glory
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Brandon Randall Named Head Coach for Parkview Vikings
The Parkview Vikings will have a new Head Coach for the first time in over a decade with the recent hiring of Brandon Randall, most recently with the Osage Indians. Clint Nurnberg has a new job at OTC in the Middle College program that he’s already begun. While he has chosen to not continue his High School coaching career, he and his brother Cliff will continue to be involved via the Legends/Legacy FC club program.
Clint started in 2001 with the boys, coaching his first game before he even was in the classroom at Parkview where he taught journalism. The Girls began in Spring 2004 and went on to earn an Ozark Conference title in 2009 with a 9-0 record followed by the District title in 2010, still fresh in my mind as it was followed three days later by the Joplin tornado. I’ll have more on Clint early next week as I get a proper retrospective pulled together. [Read more…] about Brandon Randall Named Head Coach for Parkview Vikings
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Ozark Conference Soccer Update
Rolla visits the Waynesville Tigers tonight, in a game with dual significance for the Bulldogs. Tied with Glendale atop the Ozark Conference standings currently, the Bulldog’s have memories of their three year run (2004-2006) atop the standings.
Just as important, with their move to Class 2 this year, their primary challenger for the District 10 title is Helias.
Waynesville is a common foe the two teams, with the Tigers defeating Helias 1-0 in the opening game of the season. Since then Helias has lost 0-1 to #1 St Dominic while beating a strong Visitation Academy team 2-1 enroute to a 6-3 record. The two teams will play May 7th but that’s likely to come after District seeding.
Both Waynesville (on Friday) and Rolla (on Saturday) played Hazelwood Central this past weekend in what was supposed to be a pair of games for each. Their games with Hazelwood West were canceled due to the EF2 tornado that started on the athletic fields behind Hazelwood West before moving along Howdershell Road, damaging 50 plus structures.
They did play Central however. Waynesville won 2-1 while Rolla won 3-0 but having covered both matches I can attest to the tired legs the Central Hawks had in the second match Saturday.
Both squads have the tools necessary to succeed this season – experienced goalkeepers, strong central defense, good midfields that moved the ball well. You have to score goals to win and that may be the difference in the game tonight. Rolla is led by junior Nicole Howard while sophomore Camia Blash is primarily responsible for creating for the Tigers. Both are blessed with speed allowing them to run past defenders, but Howard is a more refined scorer at this point. Should be a good game tonight!
PHOTO GALLERY – Waynesville Tigers at Hazelwood Central
We should see a Class 3 Poll this week from the Coaches. After their results in the Kickapoo Shootout last weekend, here’s my new ranking – 1) Nixa 2) Glendale 3) Waynesville.
Conference Schedule this Week
4/16 Kickapoo at Joplin
4/16 West Plains at Camdenton
4/16 Rolla at Waynesville
4/18 Joplin at Hillcrest
4/18 Rolla at Camdenton
Games to add to your calendar include Glendale hosting Rolla April 30th and Glendale’s visit to Waynesville on May 6th. You can check out my Ozark Conference Preview for more information on all of the teams.
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Ozark Conference Preview
A quick look around the Conference. The Glendale Falcons are the defending Conference Champions, finishing 9-0 last year as they were led by Alix Opfer and Molly Brewer, who are now regulars at Division 1 Missouri State. The Waynesville Tigers finished 2nd at 7-2 followed by Camdenton and Lebanon at 6-3.
The Falcons finished 4th in the State last year after winning District 11, defeating Central in the Sectionals and Rock Bridge in the Quarterfinals. They fell to eventual champion Cor Jesu 0-1 in the semifinal and 1-3 to St Joseph in the 3rd place match.
The Falcon’s have 7 seniors with forward Driana Raff the returning high scorer with 9 goals in 2012. She also dished out 8 assists, also the top returning number. I would expect sophomore Olivia Wolfram to challenge for minutes up top although Kenzie Robbins, who led the JV with 11, may be a better fit with Raff in a 4-4-2. Junior Kindra Lierz, who played in the ECNL League for SLSG this Winter, returns in goal for the third year.
The Falcons open the season at Ozark on Tuesday March 19th, game time is 5:00 pm.
Waynesville Tigers Class 3 District 10 Champions, 2012
The Tigers return 6 seniors, including defender Jordan Kilthau, the POY in the Southwest Region last year. Defensive Player of the Year Kaitlyn Winking joins her but the Tigers will need to replace their All-Region goalie. Senior Leslie Larson will step into the role. Senior Rhiannon Moore, an All-Ozark performer in the midfield, has signed to play D2 soccer at Kentucky Wesleyan.
I can’t find any individual stats on the Tigers otherwise excellent website but knowing Head Coach Mike Gow the way I do he’s spent plenty of time reminding the girls that this is the best team Waynesville has had since 2008 when Katie Pritchard and Tasha Lord took them their second straight Conference title while setting State scoring and assist records. That team couldn’t get past Glendale in the playoffs however, despite earning their first ever win against the Falcons earlier in the year. This group got to Sectionals last year and the core of this team set a JV record for wins as freshman. Do you think they will be motivated to reach new heights?
Rolla Bulldogs Class 2 District 10
Via Rolla Daily News – Last season was the first losing campaign in the history of the Rolla High School girls’ soccer program. And veteran Lady Bulldog head coach Mike Howard expects his squad to return to its winning ways this spring.
Rolla is slated to open the season on Friday at Columbia against Rock Bridge High School, which has made it to the state tournament quarterfinals the past five years. The varsity game is to begin at 4 p.m.
Starting a large group of freshmen and sophomores, Rolla struggled to a 8-13-2 mark last season. The key graduation losses from that squad were senior midfielder Kendra Wood, now a member of the Missouri S&T women’s soccer team, and back Taylor Tronstad.
However, with all that youth playing a year ago the Lady Bulldogs now return nine starters, including their top scorer. Read more
Camdenton Lady Lakers Class 3 District 10
Via Lake News Online – Despite a slow 2-4 start, The Lady Lakers finished their 2012 season with a 17-8-1 overall record after a nine-game winning streak and claiming two regular season tournament championships, but fell just short of a repeat district championship. The team lost a number of seniors, with the two most notable being goalkeeper Cassie Hale and defender Allison Halderman. Despite their losses, the team brings back their top seven goal scorers, including the incredibly tough duo of Whitney Snow and Miriam Taylor, who were named the All-District co-offensive players of the year. Factor in Morgan Henry, who’s top-notch vision and passing enabled her to finish the season with 18 assists and 11 goals, and the offense looks stacked. Read more
The Lady Lakers open their season Friday at Fatima, a Class 1 program in Central Missouri.
Lebanon Yellowjackets open at Marshfield next Tuesday at 7:00 pm.
The Kickapoo Chiefs open their season Friday at 5:00 pm at Republic, a Class 2 program. They host Central on Saturday morning at 10:00 am. Central are the defending District 12 Champions, which now is made up of Joplin, Kickapoo and Parkview. This is an early District match up added to the schedule with the District realignment.
Parkview Vikings open at Ozark on Friday at 6:30 pm
West Plains Zizzers are at the season opening Harrison (AR) ReMax Tourney where they’ll play a pair of games.
Joplin Eagles won’t open until March 26th when they travel to Carthage.
Hillcrest Hornets open at Neosho on March 20th at 6:00 pm.
Thanks for visiting Springfield Soccer, the place for INFORMED COMMENTARY on the beautiful game in Southwest Missouri.
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