Missouri Girls High School Soccer Coaches Poll

Ashlee Rightnowar, Rolla Bulldogs (2011)

Ashlee Rightnowar, Rolla Bulldogs (2011)

The first poll of the season is out. Let’s take a look…

In Class 1, Springfield Catholic is firmly at the top of the initial poll with 9 first place votes. Greenwood finished just outside the Top 10 as well.

In Class 2, Harrisonville received votes. The Wildcats are defending District champions and will fight Warrensburg and Bolivar in District 12 this year. #10 Westminister is in town this weekend to face Glendale tonight and Catholic tomorrow.

In Class 3, Nixa opens the year ranked #12, with Jackson (Cape) at #13, Glendale at #15 and Rolla right behind the Falcon’s. There are a pair of KC teams are at the top and there are six STL teams and five KC teams in the Top 11. It’s going to be a good year at the Final 4 I think…

GIRLS SOCCER POLL (4-8-11)

Class 3
Rank Team Points
1 Liberty (2) 81
2 Lee’s Summit North (1) 80
3 St. Joe’s Academy (2) 78
4 Incarnate Word (1) 76
5 Ursuline 64
6 Eureka 57
7 Lee’s Summit West 45
8 Rockwood Summit 41
9 Park Hill South 37
10 Ft. Zumwalt West 34
11 St. Teresa’s 29
12 Nixa 27
13 Jackson 18
14 Oakville 14
15 Glendale 8
Others: Rolla 7, Howell North 6, Lee’s Summit 5, Rock Bridge 5, Cor Jesu 5, Kearney 2, Howell 1

Class 2
Rank Team Points
1 Visitation (3) 61
2 St. Dominic 57
3 Notre Dame de Sion (2) 55
4 St. Charles West (1) 47
5 Notre Dame STL 46
6 Platte County 29
7 Smithville 22
7 Duchesne 22
9 Moberly 15
10 Westminster 12
Others:  Clayton 7, Liberty North 7, Harrisonville 4, Trinity 1

Class 1
Rank Team Points
1 Springfield Catholic (9) 133
2 St. Vincent (2) 118
3 St. Pius X (Festus) (2) 109
4 Orchard Farm (1) 98
5 Bishop LeBlond 78
6 Pembroke Hill 62
7 St. Paul Lutheran 37
8 St. Pius (KC) 35
9 Barstow 33
10 O’Hara 23
Others: Greenwood 18, Southern Boone 9, Kennedy 8, Lutheran KC 7, Sacred Heart 7, Lutheran North 5

Catholic Ranked 2nd in First Missouri High School Girls Soccer Poll

IWA vs Glendale, State Semifinal 2009The initial poll for the 2010 season has been released by the Missouri High School Soccer Coaches Association. Let’s check it out!

Class 3
1 -Incarnate Word Academy
2 – Liberty
3 – Nerinx Hall
4 – Lee’s Summit North
5 – St. Joe’s Academy
6 – Pattonville
7 – Hazelwood West
8 – Lee’s Summit
9 – Glendale
10 – Park Hill South
11 – Howell North
12 – Rockwood Summit
13 – St. Teresa’s Academy
14 – Lafayette
15 – Ursuline
Others: Cor Jesu, Howell Central, Jeff City, Marquette, Rock Bridge, Rolla, Truman

Incarnate Word are the defending state Champions while Liberty, with U17 National pool player Kaysie Clark, will look to earn the KC slot that Lee’s Summit North captured last year with their 5-3 win in the Quarterfinal. Pattonville finished 3rd in 2009, blasting Glendale 4-1 in the consolation game at State and have one Missouri State recruit (Laughlin) on their roster. The Falcons, who I covered last week, bring back a strong squad that have an excellent opportunity to return to State in 2010. They have three teams from District 10 in Jeff City, Rock Bridge and Rolla that will work to prevent that from happening.

Class 2
1 – St. Dominic
2 – Notre Dame St. Louis
3 – Smithville
4 – Notre Dame de Sion
5 – Visitation
6 – Villa Duchesne
7 – St. Charles West
8 – Cape Notre Dame
9 – Jefferson City Helias
10 – Platte County
Others: Bolivar, Borgia, Harrisonville, Kearney, Moberly, Pembroke Hill, Perryville, Staley, Warrensburg

It was Duchesne that won in 2009, knocking off Smithville with the two Notre Dame programs playing in the consolation games. Helias and Bolivar both lost in the Quarterfinals last season.

Class 1
1 – St. Vincent
2 – Springfield Catholic
3 – St. Pius (KC)
4 – Trinity
5 – Principia
6 – Whitfield
7 – St. Pius (Festus)
8 – Sacred Heart
9 – John Burroughs
10 – Barstow
Others: Greenwood, Orchard Farm, Southern Boone

The Irish will look to improve on last year’s 3rd place finish while St Vincent is the defending champion looking to repeat. Trinity and St Pius (KC) were the other teams to reach the Final 4 last year and it looks like the coaches don’t expect much to change. Greenwood begins their 4th season of play with their first full class that will have to get past Catholic first.

Kaitlin Bramel And Calli Collier Garner Basketball Honors at Fontbonne

Fontbonne - Calli Collier and Kaitlin Bramel

Fontbonne - Calli Collier and Kaitlin Bramel

Nice story out of St Louis where a pair of former Rolla Bulldog players have gone onto success on the hardwood as well as the pitch. Fontbonne sophomore guard Kaitlin Bramel was selected as the SLIAC Player of the Year. Bramel led the conference this year with an average of 4.88 assists per game while finishing second in the SLIAC in steals (2.25 per game), second in three-point field goal percentage (.376) and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.50).

Bramel’s backcourt partner, junior Calli Collier, was selected to the SLIAC First-Team All-Conference and was named SLIAC Tournament MVP. Collier finished second in the conference in scoring averaging 14 points a game. During the tournament, Collier scored a team-high 18 points in the semi-final and 12 points in the championship.

Fontbonne will play their NCAA first round game against Thomas More College today (Friday). You can watch a live webcast of the game. There is also a nice article and interview with the two Rolla natives in the Rolla Daily News.

Kaitlin was a starting midfielder on the soccer team as well this year, as the Griffins finished the season 7-12 overall and 5-3 in the SLIAC which put them in fourth place.

High School Schedules – Am I Missing Your Team?

OK, spent the afternoon Tuesday entering schedules into my High School Calendar and I’m still missing quite a few. The only way I can cover your team is if I have your schedule and can identify games of interest. Please have your Coach or a member of the Booster Club send me the schedule. I need it as a spreadsheet!

If your team IS NOT on this list, then I NEED YOUR SCHEDULE!
Class 3 – Branson Pirates, Camdenton Lakers, Central Bulldogs, Glendale Falcons, Jeff City Jays, Kickapoo Chiefs, Neosho Wildcats, Nixa Eagles, Ozark Tigers, Parkview Vikings, Rolla Bulldogs, Waynesville Tigers
Class 2 – Carl Junction Bulldogs, Logan-Rogersville Wildcats, West Plains Zizzers
Class 1 – Springfield Catholic Irish, Greenwood Blue Jays

Here is a blank spreadsheet you can complete. Download googlecalendar_schedule and complete. Thanks!

Central Federal Soccer Classic Game Reports

Coach Mike Howard, Rolla Bulldogs, Wins 500th Game
Rolla wins their Classic, winning all three games while getting five goals from five players. Look out Ozark Conference :) Catholic takes 2nd Place by finishing 1-1-1 against the Class 2 competition, including a win against Washington and a tie against Hickman.

Rolla Bulldogs – 2
Hickman Kewpies – 0
A blast from just outside the box early in the second half by Ashley Kerr gave the Bulldogs their third straight win to open the season, propelling Coach Mike Howard to the 500th win of his career in the process. Freshman Ellen Spooner provided the final margin with her goal in the 66th. She picked up a loose ball after Jacklyn Standfast’s 30 yard run into the box. Her shot from the far left side carried over the keeper and into the upper side netting.

I’ll have photos and a story about Coach Howard’s accomplishment on Sunday.

Springfield Catholic – 5
Washington Jays – 0
Junior Anna Delong opened the flood gates in the 18th minute when she came back for a loose ball in the offensive third, turned and went straight to goal. Her shot from outside the box found the side netting on the far side and the Irish had the opening they needed. Shaking off the fatigue of four games in three days, in a Spring practice season that hasn’t allowed much in the way of full field game efforts, the Irish cleared the bench while getting goals from four players. The second goal was scored by freshman Shelby Hatz, from Carsen Baron’s corner kick in stoppage time of the first half. Delong got a second goal in the 49th minute, a hard low shot to the near corner. Baron buried a volley after freshman Emily Ortega sent a hard cross from the left. Emily Kessler finished things with a tap in to the far post after freshman Courtney Devlins fine run into the box.

Hickman Kewpies – 1
Washington Jays – 1
The Jays came back to tie the game today after the Kewpies went ahead on Katie Larue’s second goal this weekend.

Rolla Bulldogs – 1
Springfield Catholic – 0
Jacklyn Standfast
Kaitlin Bramel got the gamewinner, with the assist from Jaclyn Standfast’s header off Ashely Kerr’s corner. It came in the xxth minute and the Bulldogs continued to press throughout the half as the Irish had difficulty getting started in their third game in three days. The second half saw a more even battle as the youthful Irish team warmed up with the clearing skies. Taking advantage of their wing speed, they had several opportunities in the final 10 minutes to earn the tie but the Bulldog defense is experienced and withstood the pressure.

MO Class 2 District 11: Rolla Bulldogs vs Lebanon YellowjacketsLate goals were the story of the day on Friday

Rolla Bulldogs – 2
Washington – 1
14th minute – Sophomore forward Olivia Cox put Rolla up 1-0 off a pass from Kim Carter.
31st minute – Ellie Ebinger tied the game for Washington.
79th minute – Sophomore midfielder Jaclyn Standfast scores game winner from an Ashley Kerr pass.

Springfield Catholic – 1
Hickman Kewpies – 1
12th minute – Senior Tara Bailes roofs a close range blast for Catholic
79th minute – Katie Larue knots things up for the Kewpies

Jaclyn Standfast, who got Rolla’s gamewinner tonight, is featured in the photo from the District Final last year against Lebanon.

High School Girls Soccer Previews

Thought I’d point you to a few more recent season previews. I’ll get my first look at a game on Saturday when I attend the Rolla Classic. I’m very excited about this season, there are going to be some serious competitive battles we’re going to get to see this year.

Seth Sowers of the Rolla Daily News weighs in with Lady Bulldogs To Play with Passion

Leading the way at center midfielder will be Bramel. She was a second team all-state selection a year ago despite sitting out the start of the season with an injury. Her move to the position sparked the team last year after a slow start. She notched four goals and eight assists. Also at center mid will be sophomore Jaclyn Standfast and junior Emily Spooner. Standfast has a cannon for a leg, and used it to score 10 goals last year. She also added a team-high 11 assists.

TJ Brice, from the Christian County edition of the News-Leader Ozark Girls Young, Experienced

The Lady Tigers return the top three scorers from last season: Megan Gunnels (14 goals), Erica Hogan (12) and Alicia Collard (eight). Collard also added six assists. Hogan, a senior, and Gunnels, a sophomore, were named to the all-district first team last year. It was Hogan’s second consecutive all-district selection.

and TJ again with Nixa Girls Soccer to Field Young Squad

This year’s squad will feature three seniors: Stephanie Allen, Jacklyn Finley and Lauren Hillmer. “I am really excited about this season. I think we have great potential,” Hillmer said. “We just need to get together and learn to play as a team. We are kind of split up into different age groups, and we need to bond as one. Once we get that done, we should have a really good season.”

A group of young players returns with quality experience from last season. Sophomores Ashlyn Robillard and Jo Pavlowsky scored seven and five goals, respectively, in considerable playing time. Pavlowsky added six assists.

While you’re at it, might as well start looking to State and potential opponents. Teams like the defending state champion Ft Zumwalt West Jaguars, or maybe the Nerinx Markers and St Joseph’s Angels. Or the nationally ranked Incarnate Word team?

Central Federal/Rolla Bulldog Girls Soccer Classic This Weekend

Central Federal - Rolla Bulldog ClassicFriday March 21st
* 5:00 Rolla vs. Washington
* 6:45 Catholic vs. Hickman

Saturday, March 22nd
* 9:00 a.m. Catholic vs. Rolla
* 10:45 a.m. Hickman vs. Washington
* 2:00 p.m. Washington vs. Catholic
* 3:45 p.m. Rolla vs. Hickman

Coach Mike Howard and his Rolla Lady Bulldogs open their season this weekend with the 2nd Annual Central Federal Savings and Loan Girls Soccer Classic. Sitting on 497 wins, the early season question to be answered will be how soon can the team reach this remarkable goal.

Recent history indicates it won’t be a simple task for the defending District Champions, especially this early in the year. Last years game against Washington ended 0-0. Coach Howard’s record against Jeff Wallace, the new Coach at Hickman is 0-14-3 although it was 4-0-1 against former Coach Jon Strodtman. Catholic has won 2 out of 3 the past three years. I plan on attending a pair of games on Saturday, en route to Mom’s house for Easter, so look for live reports.

Central Federal became the sponsor of the tournament last year and continues their support this year. Central Federal S&L’s donation helps cover the cost of the tournament and allows Rolla to bring in talented high school teams for the tournament. All games will be played at Kiwanis Field on the Bray Sports Complex.

Photo: L to R, Bill Stoltz, CFSL rep.; Mike Howard, Rolla soccer coach and Larry Thomas, CFSL rep.

This Week In Springfield MO Soccer

Welcome to Spring soccer folks. The girls high school season is scheduled to begin this evening with Jefferson City Helias visiting Lebanon to take on the Yellowjackets. If the weather cooperates. I’m still working on getting schedules into my calendar so I can begin regular coverage but there’s one important story to point to this week.

Rolla Bulldogs Mike Howard has 497 wins. The Rolla Bulldogs will open their District title defense this year with a tournament this weekend. Washington, Springfield Catholic and Hickman will visit and take on the hosts in the order listed. I will be in Rolla on Saturday to catch at least one of the games.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on Ozark where Tom Davidson opens his first season with the Tigers sitting at 498 wins. Harrison AR visits on Thursday this week and Ozark visits Waynesville next week. Plenty of pressure on the girls right from the start :)

The US Men’s National U23 team defeated Honduras Saturday evening to move into the semifinal of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. They’ll face Canada on Thursday evening, the winner is guaranteed a slot in Beijing in August. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, time to be announced. Note – Mexico will not being going to the Olympics.

Springfield Public Schools and Drury are on Spring Break so the Mudhouse should be relatively quiet this week as most of the MSU students I know are scrambling to wrap up their week before beginning their break on Thursday. Enjoy!

Update – World Cup blog celebrates St Pat’s by identifying the best Irish goals of the past 10 years available on YouTube!

This Week In Springfield Missouri Soccer

Activity is beginning to heat up around the area, despite Mother Nature’s lack of cooperation. Time to get back into the swing of things, including stocking my Toyota Tacoma with Soccer Mom prerequisites – lawn chair, fleece blanket, sun screen, umbrella, you know the drill. I’ve got to get my camera and video camera prepped as well, so it should be a busy week.

The primary reason for renewing this activity is that the college squads are beginning their Spring exhibition schedules already. The Drury Panther Ladies played the Arkansas State Indians yesterday in Jonesboro (they lost 1-2). This Wednesday the men will play host to a pair of teams. At 5pm 4:30 pm, Division I Oral Roberts University will take the field, followed at 7:30 pm by Missouri Science & Technology (or S&T, formerly known as UMR), a member of the GLVC. Join us at Harrison Stadium for one or both of the games.

Update – Missouri State Lady Bears beat the Kansas Jayhawks 1-0 on Saturday.

We are less than two weeks away from the start of the High School Girls season. The Rolla Bulldogs host an early tournament on Friday March 21 – Saturday March 22 that includes Springfield Catholic, Columbia Hickman and Washington. The #1 ranked Kickapoo Chiefs host Bentonville (AR) on Monday March 24th. The first Ozark Conference game will follow that Wednesday when the Chiefs travel to Lebanon to face the Yellowjackets. You can follow the Ozark Conference race on Nick Schmitt’s Zizzer Soccer site all season long.

I’m working on collecting the schedules for all of the area teams, as well as the rosters. I’m already working to identify Senior All-Stars for this years game. Add Thursday June 19th to your calendar, you’ll be surprised how quickly the date will arrive. I know I always am :)

Finally, my Soccer Calendar is the best way I know of to stay on top of the games in the region and on the tube. There’s even a way to download it into your calendar. If your team would like to add that capability to their website, contact me and I’d be happy to help you add it.

Southwest Missouri Class 2 High School Girls Soccer Preseason Poll

Brought to you by the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association. What timing on this one. The City of Springfield won’t need any salt to melt the snow in the streets, this poll should generate enough heat to handle the snow and power the town of Richland!

1-Kickapoo (32) Can Phil Hodge work his first year magic and pull the final four double? The Lady Chiefs were 15-9-1 last year and advanced to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. They return several key players but are led by two All-Staters, Katy McClain and Chealsey Russell.

2-Rolla (30) The Lady Bulldogs finished 2007 with their worst record ever, 14-11-2, yet still managed to claim their ninth district championship in ten years. They return nine starters led by All-Stater Kaitlin Bramel and look to continue a good run.

3-Waynesville (22) Will arguably the most athletic girls class in Waynesville history find the same success on the soccer field that they have enjoyed in the gym? They return 10 starters including three time All-Stater Katie Pritchard.

4-Glendale (21) Lorin Opfer and Megan Garrad return from injuries to a solid team. The question is, who will replace All-State keeper Laura McElroy? If Jeff Rogers can find the answer, the Lady Falcons may be the team to beat.

5-Lebanon (15) Mike Gow returns nine starters from the Lady Yellowjackets best season ever. Last year in the pre-season poll we told you that they would surprise some people. If they surprise you this year you might want to find a new hobby.

Others to watch–

Ozark- Tom Davidson is no stranger to post-season success, but can he propel a Lady Tiger team led by returning scorers Erica Hogan and Megan Gunnells past Kickapoo?

Joplin- Ed Miller and the Lady Eagles have reached the district finals many times. Can they break into the post-season mix?

Note: all commentary, except for the opening, provided by the Coaches Association. ( ) votes received