Tag Archives: Evan Palmer

Evan Palmer Gets 300th Win

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Coach Evan Palmer, 300 WinsHead Coach, Evan Palmer earned his 300th win tonight as the Nixa Eagles won 6-0 over the Parkview Vikings.

Coach Palmer, who played collegiately at Missouri State and is the only Coach the Eagles have had, began his career with Nixa in 1995 when the Boys program got it’s start.

Boys Program: 175-193-21 (1995-2010)
COC titles in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008. District Championships – 2000

When Girls soccer was added in 1998, he took on those responsibilities as well.

Girls Program: 121-169-11 (1998-2010)
District Championships – 2010

In 2010 the Girls team earned their first ever District championship, defeating the Kickapoo Chiefs for the first time, before advancing to the Quarterfinal’s where they lost to the Rock Bridge Bruins. The Boys team finished the regular season at 18-5, the best record in the history of Nixa boys soccer. Nixa also won the Kickapoo Shootout by defeating the Kickapoo Chiefs 1-0 in the Brown Division title game. It was the third straight shutout from goalie Mason Young during the weekend. The Eagles goal was scored by Robert Neathery as his shot from outside the box slipped just inside the upright in the 30th minute. It avenged a regular season 0-1 loss to Kickapoo Sep 3rd. Mason Young went on to become Nixa’s All-Time Shutout Leader with 24.5 career shutouts that season, 13.5 of them coming during the 2010 season.

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6th Annual Southwest All-Star Game Tonight!

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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.

Missouri Class 3 All-District 11 Girls Soccer Honors

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Lauren Moats, Nixa Eagles (2012)

Lauren Moats, Nixa Eagles (2012)

2010 Class 3 All-District 11 Girls Soccer Teams

Coach Of the Year – Evan Palmer *
Player Of the Year – Lauren Moats *
Defensive Player of the Year – Kristin Miller
Offensive Player of the Year – Emily Cline
Keeper Player of the Year – Paige Hemphill *

Represents a Unanimous selection *

Christian County High School Girls Soccer

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Nixa Lady EaglesA beautiful day and time for a road trip to check out the Christian County squads and how the first week is treating them. First stop Nixa where Coach Evan Palmer was demonstrating some of the moves that held him in good stead as a Missouri State Bear. The Lady Eagles open 2010 coming off of their best season ever in 2009. Nixa won 16 games, blowing past the previous record of 12, scoring 80 goals while giving up only 30, both records as well. The team won its first tournament taking first in the Christian County Tournament while the JV squad was also setting records at 15-3.

Hannah Barber, a sparkplug and All-Star in 2009, is the most significant loss. The team brings back a solid core, starting in the back with junior keeper Kristin Miller, Team MVP in 2009, fronted by senior Maddie Chandler who was Defensive MVP. Jo Pavlowsky and Ashlyn Robillard join Chandler as the senior leaders for this still young squad that includes Regional 1st teamers Rachel Murphy, a sophomore forward and Kelsey Haist, a junior midfielder. Add in Sophomore Abby Turnbull at sweeper and junior front runner Kelsey Bartell and the Eagles are prepared to challenge again this year. The Eagles add sophomore transfer Lauren Moats, who won a Kentucky State Cup with Javanon before moving here when dad Kyle accepted the Missouri State AD job, and freshman Brittany Kirkpatrick to this developing squad. The final game of the season came in the District semi-finals with a tough loss to Glendale. While they won’t surprise anyone this year, I suspect their goals will be higher and they’ll have a solid opportunity to achieve them.

Ozark Lady TigersBefitting the weather and a 4th day of practice, the Tigers were the most active squad I’ve seen at this early stage. Working small spaces and transition, this looks like a team on a mission. When last seen, the girls were being shut out by a Chiefs team in the District semi-final that the Tigers had hammered 3-0 two games prior. With seven returning seniors, five of whom will likely be playing college soccer next Fall, the focus is understandable.

Starting with 1st Team All-State sr. goalkeeper Paige Hemphill (SBU Bearcats), sr. Megan Jenisch and jr. Jayme Braun on defense, sr. Megan Stodden and sr. Rachel Haden (SBU Bearcats) in the midfield and sr. Alicia Collard and sr. Megan Gunnels at forward, the Tigers are prepared to go toe-to-toe with with any team in the area. The team has added one transfer, Shannon Lacker, from Ft Zumwalt South in St Louis. There are 9 underclassmen who have another year of experience and the largest senior class I think we’ll find in the region. Will this be their year?

Nixa Soccer Camps Brings The Game to 145 Players

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2009 Nixa Camp 4th and 5th2009 Nixa Camp 2nd-3rd
Featured above are the 4th & 5th Grade Camp along with the 2nd & 3rd Grade Camp. Click on the individual photo to see a larger size.

6th-8th Girls 2009 Nixa6th - 8th Boys 2009 Nixa

Featured above are the 6th through 8th grade camps, run for the Girls and the Boys

The Nixa Soccer Camps have completed the grade school and junior high camps. We had a great turnout with 145 players Grades 2nd-12th over the course of the camps. Nixa Eagles Head Coach Evan Palmer, along with his assistant coach Ty Heinrichs and former Nixa High goalie/Freshman to be at Rend Lake Community College Marcus Fernandes were the camp instructors, supplemented by current High School players.

For information on Camps and the Nixa Eagles soccer program, visit the website.

Southwest Soccer All-Stars Take The Field This Evening

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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.

Branson Pirates Hire Dave Brenner For New Soccer Program

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Nixa Eagles Tie Glendale Falcons Send a shout out to Dave Brenner folks, the gentleman who will lead Branson into the worlds game next August when the Pirates field a boys soccer team for the first time. Dave, who will also coach the girls team that will begin play in the Spring 2009 season, joins the Pirates from the Nixa Eagles where he has been assisting Evan Palmer since the Fall of 2001. The only photo of him I’ve captured however has him focused on the Eagles (he’s on the left) so I’ll rectify that at the next Eagles game I attend.

Dave already has a schedule with 14 games lined up for the Fall, including a weekend trip to Kansas City to take on Cole Camp and Smithton. He pointed to the trip as one of the numerous examples of the steps Branson is taking to embrace and support soccer. The enthusiasm from the community, including a large Hispanic contingent, ensures that he’ll have a good pool of players to work with from the beginning. The initial informational meetings have already happened and summer plans are also being put into place.

Home games will be played at the Jr High School, a bermuda/rye mix that has locker rooms, a press box and the other amenties that come with being the former home of the Pirates football team. The other great news is that there will now be an official Central Ozark Conference title chase to count on with the addition of Carthage, Nesho and Webb City as well as the Pirates.

I asked Nixa Eagles coach Evan Palmer (a former SMSU player) to share his thoughts on Dave:

I can’t give Dave enough praise. He has been a great assistant and will make a great head soccer coach. He already is a great head coach leading the Volley Eagles to a district title last fall. He takes great pride in what he does and will work hard to make Branson a contender. Branson is getting a great addition to their teaching and coaching staffs. Dave and Michelle (his wife) will be missed in the district.

Dave initially worked with the boys and the girls at Nixa but as Evan notes, he took over the volleyball team a few years ago which conflicted with the boys season. He’s been working with the girls soccer team for the entire period.

Dave will teach History at Branson along with his coaching responsibilities. He’s a 1981 Glendale graduate, where he played defense on the club soccer teams at Glendale before it became an official sport. He also played Rugby for SMS, something he picked up as an exchange student in South Africa in 1981, in addition to intramural soccer through college (became a mid-fielder and then a goalie). He continues to play one or two sessions a year in the over thirty indoor league at Lake Country Soccer.

Welcome and congratulations Dave!