Ozark Tigers Soccer

The Ozark Lady Tiger JV squad won the Gold Division of the Kickapoo JV tournament on Saturday.  In the first game of the day, they defeated St. Clair 5-1.  This match included goals scored by freshmen Paige Lorenzo (2), Sarah Suiter, Becca Wood and Taylor Lorenzo.  In the championship game against the hosting Kickapoo Lady Chiefs, Paige Lorenzo scored an unassisted goal in the last 10 minutes of regulation time to tie the game at 1-1.  The Ozark Lady Tigers eventually came out on top to win the tournment when the game was decided with penalty kicks.  It was an exciting day for the JV team who are now 13-4-1.

Ozark Tiger freshman Megan Gunnels was “in the zone” when she stepped on the field on Friday night against the Lady Vikings of Parkview.  Gunnels put three in the back of the net in the first eight minutes of the game to give Ozark an early 3-0 lead that would carry into halftime (assists by Melissa Hogan, Christi Pilger and Sammi Wright).  For good measure, Gunnels added a fourth goal for the Tigers in the fourth minute of the second half (assisted by Kristin Glaubitz).  Junior Erica Hogan finished a beautiful cross from Glaubitz in the 51st minute and freshman Alicia Collard scored the final goal of the evening for the Lady Tigers in the 66th minute (assisted by Jessica Bush) as Ozark cruised to a 6-0 victory over Parkview. 

The Ozark Tigers (10-7-0) are now 3-0 in Class 2 District 12 play.  They face their remaining two district opponents at home in Ozark this week playing Kickapoo on Monday (April 30) and Neosho on Thursday (May 3).

Ozark’s JV also defeated Parkview on Friday, winning by a score of 2-0.

Ozark will play Neosho on Thursday, May 3rd, at Ozark.
Varsity game will start at 4:30 with a JV game after.

The games against Lebanon on Tuesday, May 8th, are cancelled.

Coach Sundlie commented that “Glaubitz really stepped up for us.”  With three starters out with injuries on Tuesday night, Coach Sundlie noted that ”it was great timing by Glaubitz.” Ozark sophomore forward Kristin Glaubitz scored three goals and had an assist for the Ozark Lady Tigers as they rolled over Richland by a score of 5-0.  Alicia Collard and Sara Wright also scored for Ozark.  Jenna Freese and Megan Stodden contributed assists on two of Glabitz’s three goals.

 In the second game on Tuesday, Ozark’s JV squad registered another win defeating Richland by a score of 6-0.

The Ozark Lady Tigers waged a good battle on Monday night against the Lady Falcons of Glendale, despite the fact that Ozark was missing two starters due to injury, senior midfielder Melissa Hogan and junior defensive back Jessica Bush.  After an exciting first half of play, in which Ozark freshman keeper Paige Hemphill made some huge saves, the score remained tied at 0-0.  The injuries and resulting depth of Ozark’s bench began to take a toll as the minutes wore on in the second half.  Glendale sophomore forward Jeni Frewin followed a ball that got loose from Ozark’s keeper into the net to score the winner in the 49th minute.  Twelve minutes later, Frewin got the cushion goal by heading a beautifully served ball from senior Lauren Bettlach past the keeper and into the goal.  Ozark continued to work until the final whistle, but tired legs seemed to slow down their attacking efforts.  The final score was 2-0 Glendale, but this was another strong performance for the young Ozark Lady Tigers (8-7-0). 

 In the second game of the evening, the Ozark JV (9-4-1) lost to Glendale’s JV squad by a score of 1-0.

The Ozark Lady Tiger seniors will be recognized during halftime of the game against Bolivar on Tuesday, May 1.  Please make plans to attend and show your appreciation for the contributions that seniors Melissa Hogan and Jenna Ward have made to the Ozark High School soccer program.

Saturday, April 28  11:00  Ozark JV vs St. Clair JV
Saturday, April 28   3:00  Ozark JV vs (tbd)

The second day of the Sedalia Tournament did not go well for the Lady Tigers from Ozark.  They started the day up 1-0 at half time against tournament host Smith-Cotton after Erica Hogan finished a corner kick that had been redirected back across the front of the goal by Megan Gunnels in the 34th minute.  The second half, however, belonged to the Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers, who went on a scoring frenzy and accumulated four goals to defeat Ozark by a final score of 4-1.    In Ozark’s second game of the day, it was the Warrensburg Lady Tigers who scored in the first half . . . and it was the Warrensburg team who put the second and final goal of that game in the net in the first minute of the second half to defeat Ozark by a score of 2-0. 

The Ozark Lady Tigers defeated Harrisonville in their first match of the Sedalia tournament on Friday night.  And it was almost as easy as 123.  One for Melissa Hogan (in the 3rd minute of the game assisted by Gunnels), two for Megan Gunnels (in the 29th assisted by M Hogan and 36th minute unassisted), and three for Erica Hogan (in the 37th assisted by Alicia Collard, in the 42nd unassisted, and in the 62nd minute of play assisted by M Hogan).   The final score was 6-0 in favor of Ozark.  Go Tigers!!!

The Lady Irish came out strong in their second match of the season against the Ozark Lady Tigers.  The Irish had several scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes of play on Wednesday night, but Ozark’s defense, and especially freshman keeper Paige Hemphill, held tough.  Unfortunately, Catholic junior midfielder Tara Bailes hit a shot in the last minute of the first half just a split second before Ozark’s keeper was able to collapse on it.  The shot ricocheted off the near post and Tara moved quickly across the box to collect her rebounding ball and put the game winning goal solidly into the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead before halftime.  Ozark came back out on the field in the second half with determination.  They fought a physical battle, and even though they were missing several off their bench due to injuries who could have provided additional support, they did not give up another goal and had a few scoring opportunities of their own.   The game ended with the score still 1-0 in favor of the Irish, but it was an effort that the Ozark Lady Tigers should remember with pride.  Be sure to check out Steve Olson’s write-up ozark-tigers-open-irish-eyes on the Springfield Soccer website and his post game interview with the Megan’s.  He also took some great photos, so be sure to click on his Flikr badge to see them.

In the JV game, freshman Sydney Owens of Springfield Catholic (pictured above battling with Erica Lorenzo) scored twice as the Irish JV squad defeated the Ozark JV team again by a score of 2-0.