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.