The Lady Tigers met their “old district” rivals from previous years, the Lady Irish of Springfield Catholic, for the first time this season on Tuesday night in Ozark. This matchup represents one of the bigger games on the schedule for the Ozark Lady Tigers. Because of the history between the two rivals, both teams came to the field ready to play an intense match. It was an exciting game to watch from the initial kick-off to the final whistle. Catholic junior midfielder Tara Bailes scored the eventual game winning goal in the 11th minute of play on a well hit shot taken from approximately 25 yards out. Tara had received the ball in the middle of the field from a free kick taken by Anne Prenger. The second and only other goal scored in the game came nine minutes later. Catholic sophomore Anna DeLong ran onto a ball that was played through Ozark’s defensive line by Tara Bailes. Anna was able to stay a step infront of the Ozark defender as she accelerated directly down the center of the box and placed the ball past the Ozark keeper into the left corner of the goal. Although both teams had several scoring opportunities in the remaining 60 minutes of play, the final score remained Catholic 2 and Ozark 0.
The Ozark JV squad (6-1) suffered their first loss of the season last night as they were also outscored by the Catholic JV by a score of 2-0.
The next match between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Irish is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, at Catholic.