Girls Private-Parochial – Ben Timson, Springfield Catholic High School (Mo.)
Timson’s team posted a 23-4 record on the way to its second consecutive Missouri Class 1 state championship. In the past two seasons the team has a combined record of 44-9-1 and has reached the state semifinals each of the past three years.
This video is following the team’s first State Title in 2010 over Trinity
2006 All-Stars from Joplin and Neosho
The rosters for the game have just been released with a new color scheme this year.
Girls Roster Final 2011 – The Green Team is coached by Jeff Rogers, Glendale and the White Team coached by Ben Timson, Catholic. Jeff’s youngest son, Jake Rogers, returns from a knee injury that kept him out of the Fall season to participate in the All-Star game. He will play for Crowder College in the Fall.
Boys Roster Final 2011 – The Green Team is coached by Mike Howard, Rolla and the White Team coached by Jacob Osborne, Carthage. Jason Howard, Mike’s oldest son, is playing and is headed for Lewis & Clark in St Louis following a senior season that included 2nd Team All-State and Central Region Offensive Player of the Year honors.
The teams are invited high school seniors who graduated in May 2011 and have recently completed their high school careers. Players are considered from three Class 3 Districts (10, 11 and 12), one Class 2 District (11) plus Bolivar and St James, and two Class 1 Districts (11, 12)
The game features the best graduating high school seniors in this region, as chosen by Eric Sorlie, Duane Moses and Tim Davis of Springfield Soccer Club. The event is organized and supported by Springfield Soccer Club, home to over 20 teams including three State Championship squads (2007, 2008 and recently crowned 2011 Boys U16 Missouri State Champions).
Join us for tonight’s High School All-Star game, being hosted at Springfield Catholic High School for the first time. The game features the best graduating high school seniors in this region, as chosen by Steve Ole Olson of SGFsoccer.com, who covered over 50 games this Spring season, and Eric Sorlie of Springfield SC. Nominations were sought from the coaches of all of the teams from the three classes that play soccer in the Southwest Missouri region.
As part of the game activities this evening, we will be recognizing the Springfield Catholic girls team, along with Head Coach Ben Timson and assistant Meredith White. The Lady Irish won the State Soccer Title in Class 1 on June 5th, defeating Trinity Catholic from St Louis. The title is the first ever in soccer for any team in Southwest Missouri.
What: Southwest High School Soccer All-Stars
When: Tonight!
6:00 pm – Girls Game (download the rosters)
7:45 pm – Special Recognition, State Champion Springfield Catholic Girls
8:00 pm – Boys Game (download the rosters)
The Boys rosters includes 8 All-State players while the Girls roster includes
The Girls Head Coaches are Evan Palmer of Nixa and Clint Nurnberg of Parkview. The Eagles won their first ever District and Sectional titles this season while the Vikings achieved perfection in going 9-0 during the Ozark Conference season.
The Boys Head Coaches are Steve Fast of Bolivar and Jason Ingold of Camdenton. The Liberators won 2nd Place in Class 2 in November while the Lakers earned their first District title.
Key sponsors this year include J&K Soccer who provide the souvenir jerseys, game balls and this year are bringing tents to provide shade for the players during the game. Cox Sports Medicine is represented by Dr Rusty Bond (whose daughter Jamie was an All-Star in 2008) and Charles Bower. There will also be an ambulance stationed at the game. Springfield Catholic Schools is hosting the event and are ensuring every resource is available for the players and the fans.
That includes taking special steps to allow Mediacom to return to the game for the first time since 2006. Don West and Mike McClure will be on hand this evening to provide the play-by-play. Color analysis will be offered by Coaches Jeff Rogers of Glendale and Tom Davidson of Ozark, the deans of Springfield high school soccer.
The event is organized jointly by SGFsoccer.com, Southwest Missouri’s soccer resource, and Springfield Soccer Club, home to over 20 teams including the two time State Championship squad.
Head Coach Ben Timson and I took some time after the celebrations on Saturday to discuss his title-winning squad and its traditions. It’s a history that stretches back to 1998, very early in Southwest Missouri annals although not the first. I believe that belongs to the Rolla Bulldogs who first kicked off in 1996.
The photo features the Fitzgerald and Renner families who have contributed 7 players over an 11 year period to the program, culminating in Erin Fitzgerald and Veronica “Ronnie” Renner bringing home the title. It’s just one example that continues when you discuss names like Bailes, Dahlberg, Skahan and many more.
Front row, L to R: unidentified with child, Shannon F (2005), Katherine F (2002), Erin F (2010), Hannah R (2007), Maddy R (2009), Ronnie (2010)
Back row, L to R: Mr Fitzgerald, Mr & Mrs Renner
Apologies if I got any of it wrong, leave corrections in the comments and I’ll update it 
Head Coach Ben Timson with Jessica Smits (back left)
The Irish return ALL of their Regional players from last year, including Co-Offensive POY Shelby Hatz and Natalie Smid, Co-Defensive POY Rebecca Mayus and Carsen Baron, along with Erin FitzGerald and Andrea Parker, all juniors except for central midfielder Erin Fitzgerald, one of three seniors on the squad. The other seniors are Veronica Renner and Rachel Herron and the Irish have TWO quality keepers in Rachel Scott and Megan Goetzinger. A plethora of riches for Coach Ben Timson and new assistant, Jessica Smits, last seen roaming the pitch as a left back for the Missouri State Bears.
The most significant loss was emotional leader Maddy Renner, now matriculating at Central Missouri, but with a varsity roster that includes 20 players with experience at State the girls are primed to make a second straight visit this year and leverage that experience in the same fashion as the boys team who captured 2nd last Fall. So, where do you think they will finish?
I’ll be visiting several other schools during the next two weeks while compiling team schedules and rosters. Look for more as we head for the opening game of the season this year which will be Monday March 22nd at Ozark High School where the Tigers will host the Irish. Mark your calendar now!
UPDATE – the games will be played tonight. A little rain won’t stop us. Lightning and flooding would but I suspect we’ll avoid those possibilities and will enjoy the cooling effect a bit of rain will offer.
We’ve got a full day today folks.
Turn your radio on this morning, Thursday at 9:30am. Catch All-Stars organizer and Springfield SC Director of Coaching Jeremy Alumbaugh with All-Stars Katy McLain, Heath Melugin and Tara Bailes on JOCK 98.7, The Sports Reporters
In addition to watching the finest seniors in Southwest Missouri tonight, you can also catch the 1st Quarterfinal match of the European Championships today. Germany takes on Portugal at 1:45 pm, consider coming by Coester’s for a pre-game meal. Great soccer and the food is uniformly good.
The Girls game is at 6:00 pm.
The Boys game is at 8:00 pm.
Cooper Field #1 at Lake Country Soccer on Pythian Street in Springfield. Players need to register at the field 1.5 hours in advance of the game. Remember to bring your cleats, shin guards, white socks, black shorts, a water bottle and be prepared for the warm evening.
The lineups were announced earlier this week. Boys lineup. Girls lineup.
The Coaches for this evenings games include:
Girls Red: Jeff Rogers, Glendale Falcons and Evan Palmer, Nixa Eagles. The Falcons returned to the Quarterfinals this year for the first time since 2004. Evans working on replacing the Eagle’s top 2 career goal scorers on the girls team.
Girls Gold: Tom Davidson, Ozark Tigers and Ben Timson, Catholic Fightin’ Irish. The Tigers won their 1st ever large school District title this year while getting Tom his 500th win as a coach. The Irish made it to the Class 1 Quarterfinals yet again.
Boys Red: Eric Crain, New Covenant Academy and Mike Gow, Lebanon Yellowjackets. The Warriors earned their first District title in Fall 2007. Gow wraps up 12 years with the Yellowjackets this past Spring and heads for the sideline with the Waynesville Tigers in the Fall.
Boys Gold: Phil Hodge, Kickapoo Chiefs and Mike Howard, Rolla Bulldogs. The Chiefs were the #1 Public School boys team in 2007, taking 3rd place at the State Finals in Phil’s first season as head coach. Mike Howard earned his 500th win in the third game of the girls season.
Our Announcer this evening will be Bob Florez, who also handles the microphone for the Missouri State Bears men’s team. He’ll see two future Bears on the pitch this evening – Heath Melugin (Kickapoo) and Justin Scicluna (West Plains).
We will have Dr. Rusty Bond, a Cox Health sports medicine physician on the sidelines along with a trainer from the Athletic Advantage program at Cox. Dr Bond is part of the Southwest Spine and Sport office at Cox as well as the father of All-Star Jamie Bond (#4 on the Red squad). Thanks to Cox Health for their support of the players and this game.
Referee’s this evening include
Girls
Elizabeth Unruh – Referee
Andy Ellsworth – AR
Anthony Solari – AR
Boys
Trey Smith – Referee
Anthony Solari – AR
Todd McCutcheon – AR
Sponsors of this years event, in addition to Cox Health Athletic Advantage, include Lake Country Soccer, the Springfield Demize, Coesters Restaurant, The Copy Shoppe, J&K Soccer, Baywash Car Wash in Cassville as well as Rick & Tami Dorman and the Booster Clubs at Kickapoo, Glendale, Catholic and Ozark. Thanks as well to the Opfer family, including Scott, Tracy, Austin, Alix and Kasey; The Melugin family, including Phil, Kim, Megan and Miriam; and the Bailes family, including Scott, JoAnn, Allie and Mandy.
Fortunately for me, I’ve discovered that the majority of you don’t come here because of my journalistic skills. We know newspapers are dying, so I am here cover the game we love and that’s good enough for you.
That is all to explain my feeble attempt at a May Day (and the day is a good one so far, eh) headline and a feature story for you in advance of the game tonight between the top 2 seeds in Class 1. The #2 Bolivar Liberators visit #1 Springfield Catholic and the varsity teams will square off at 4:30 pm.
The Liberators, like many teams in the region, have been influenced by the growing quality of the underclassmen joining their teams. In 1999 the US Women won the World Cup here in the USA and all those 6 year old girls are now freshman and sophomores and contributing to their varsity squads. Kaelie Archer (#6) on defense and Jonna Welch (#27) at forward are a pair of freshman to keep an eye on tonight as the Liberators test themselves against arguably the best team in the Region, regardless of class.
Catholic have two of the best freshmen in the region in Rachel Scott (on the left) and Natalie Smid (on the right). I caught up with them following their win in PK’s against the Glendale Falcons last week. They are pictured with Tara Bailes (middle), who will be wearing Missouri State maroon next year.
Here’s what they had to say following that win: Rachel Scott & Natalie Smid, Catholic (it’s a .WAV file) You’ll hear Rachel first, then Natalie describing Rachel’s saves as it continues.
Best friends and pretty good teammates I’d say, focused on the play of others rather than their own play. How good are they? I asked Coach Rob Brewer, Missouri State University, who was in attendance and here’s what he had to say about Natalie
Natalie makes other midfielders better. She is very technical and understands the game well.
What should you watch for? Not only her touch (how close does she keep the ball) but what does she do off the ball? She anticipates very well, putting herself in position to support her teammates and she is thinking several steps ahead so that before she receives the ball, she already understands where her pass will go. Or runs that she will make that create space for her teammates. It’s a package folks and this is the player that will be running the midfield after Tara graduates.
As to her BFF Rachel, Coach Ben Timson noted very early this season that she could be the best goalkeeper he has ever had at Catholic which stretches to the beginning of the program. As noted in the interview, she had to make a pair of reaction saves in OT to keep Glendale from winning. Two things that stand out for me is the confidence her teammates have in her, which allows them to press for the goal when they need it. And more importantly, the confidence she has in herself. It was like interviewing Bruce Sutter or any baseball closer of the past generation. It’s not the save that was missed, it’s the next shot that’s important. Key qualities.
So I’ll be out there to watch their progression, and the development of all the players on the pitch. How about you?
As noted earlier this month, Springfield Catholic’s two senior girls signed to play college soccer. Anne Prenger will be competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while representing the UMSL Tritons, where she’ll play for Coach Beth Goetz. Here are Coach Goetz’s comments on Anne:
We’ve been following Anne a bit for the last two years, mostly with her St. Louis Soccer Club team. We saw her play again this past fall in a tournament, and felt that she would had the potential to bring a lot to our program here at UMSL. Anne is obviously a strong defender, as reflected in her being chosen Defensive Player of the Year last high school season. Her strength in the backfield will definitely be an asset at this level.
We have a relatively young team heading into the 08 season, and I think Anne and our other incoming freshman will have the opportunity to compete for playing for time and will raise our overall level of play.
Anne began her college search at the beginning of her junior year. Her goal was to find a school that had a competitive soccer program and either a pre-med or nursing program that would meet her academic goals. She was first exposed to UMSL when her St Louis SC squad was invited to visit the campus and meet the team to learn more about the program. Coach Goetz stood out for Anne and when assistant Denny Hearne attended some tournament games last Fall, her coaches made him aware that Anne would be interested in talking to UMSL about opportunities there. I wanted to find out more about her St Louis SC experience so I talked to Coach Jim Taylor. Turns out she was recruited to his squad as well.
I have watched Annie play for 6 to 7 years. The first few years she was on an opposing team and she consistently caused us to change our strategy to compensate for her. When she became available, I immediately invited her to play on our squad to bring us her leadership, skill, field vision and toughness which would help us to achieve our goal of regional and national competitiveness. She provided that positive impact through her play and diligent teamwork. At UMSL, I expect Annie will provide the same positive impact and through her play keep Coach Goetz’s squad at a regional and national level.
Continuing her recruiting cycle, Anne attended the Drury game at UMSL (a 1-0 win on PK’s early in the season) and then made her formal visit during Christmas break. She made a verbal commitment soon afterwards, based upon an offer that included financial assistance. The offer made was not the final offer but a guaranteed minimum with final support determined following signing according to Anne. In the end, it was the quality of the Nursing program at UMSL that pushed Anne to the Tritons. The early impression Coach Goetz made also played a role, with Anne commenting that on her being friendly and open with the team and having a very merit-based approach. No preconceived notions that would limit Anne’s opportunity to compete for a position on the team.
Anne and her Springfield Catholic teammates are days away from beginning formal practice for her final season. She’s a returning captain, a 2nd Team All-State player, All-Ozark Defender and four year starter. The team is coming off an 18-5 season, their last game a loss in the Quarterfinals to an extremely tough St Dominic’s squad that ultimately were crowned State Champions. She has high expectations, matched only by her coach, Ben Timson:
Anne is the best pure defender, and one of the best players, we have had at Catholic. Technically she is impeccable which comes from many years of working on her game through the club system. She also excels tactically…..her ability to organize our defense and begin our attack from the back comes from her highly developed understanding of the game and excellent field vision. I am excited about Anne’s opportunity to continue her soccer career at the University of Missouri – St. Louis and I am confident she will be a significant contributor to the Triton program during her time there. I’m also happy that Ron and Jeanne will have the opportunity to watch her play during her college days!
All I can add to that is amen. I’m looking forward to seeing Anne on a regular basis in the GLVC. Congrats!
