The Ozark Lady Tigers controlled the majority of play on a cold Thursday evening in Nixa. Most of the game was played in Ozark’s offensive half of the field. However, Nixa’s defensive did a great job of marking up against Ozark’s attackers, stopping numerous Ozark goal scoring opportunities, and creating the occassional counter-attack for Nixa’s strikers. The first goal of the game came for Ozark in the 11th minute of play. Junior forward Erica Hogan took a direct free kick from approximately 25 yards out on the left side of the field. Erica hit the ball over the Nixa keeper and it dipped under the crossbar and into the far corner of the goal to put Ozark up 1-0. This score held through halftime. Then in the 47th minute, Ozark senior Melissa Hogan drove up the center of the field through a mob of Nixa defenders and was fouled a few steps inside the 18 yard box. Melissa’s first PK attempt sailed just above and to the right of the goal, but an anxious Nixa defender had crossed the 18 before Melissa hit the shot and a second attempt was awarded. Melissa successfully placed the second ball in the upper left corner of the goal to put Ozark ahead 2-0. Five minutes later, Nixa was awarded a PK opportunity when an Ozark player was called for a hand ball in the box. Nixa senior Sarah Goble successfully finished the PK for the Lady Eagles to make the score 2-1, which would hold to the final whistle. A note of interest: One of Nixa’s main offensive weapons, senior Jessie Yach, sufferred a knee injury in Tuesday night’s game against Neosho and saw limited playing time in the game against Ozark. She played a few minutes in the first half and then fell on the injured knee early in the second half and left the game for the remainder of the match. She is a threat that Ozark will need to be prepared to defend the next time Ozark and Nixa meet.
In the early game on Thursday, Ozark’s JV improved it’s record to 7-1 by defeating the Nixa JV again, this time by a score of 4-0. The scoring effort for the Lady Tiger JV squad was led by freshman Sarah Suiter with two goals. Freshmen Taylor Jordan and Taylor Lorenzo each added a goal in the Ozark JV win.