Ozark Tigers Soccer

The Ozark Lady Tigers got a win in Bolivar on Tuesday night, defeating the Lady Liberators by a score of 2-0.  Ozark’s first goal came midway throught the first half on another well executed set piece.  Sophomore Megan Jenisch took a direct kick from around 25 yards out on the right.  She served the ball over the wall and into the path of the Ozark runners who were crashing into the box.  Sophomore Megan Stodden was able to get on the end of the serve and volley the game winner strongly into the back of the net. 

Ozark’s second goal came about 10 minutes into the second half, when sophomore Megan Gunnels beat a defender deep on the left side of the goal and fired the ball across the mouth of the goal where it found junior Brittany Matthews on the back post and she bodied it into the goal. 

Sophomore goal keeper Paige Hemphill made a big one-handed save in the final seconds of the game when she pushed the final shot taken by Bolivar’s talented freshman forward Jonna Welch over the crossbar to secure the shutout (Ozark’s ninth of the season). Final score:  Ozark 2 and Bolivar 0.  Ozark’s record is now 14-3-1

In the JV match, freshman Mollie Killion scored both goals to lead the Lady Tigers to a 2-0 victory in the early game as well.  Ozark’s JV team is now 12-1-1

The Kickapoo Lady Chiefs won both games against the Ozark Lady Tigers on Senior Night at Kickapoo on Monday.  In the varsity match, Kickapoo got their first goal in stoppage time just before the break.  They used the momentum to get a second goal in the first five minutes of the second half to defeat Ozark by a score of 2-0.  Ozark’s record is now 13-3-1, while Kickapoo improves to 8-8 on the season.

In the JV match, play was pretty even in the opening 15 minutes and Ozark had some scoring opportunities, then the tide seemed to turn for the Lady Chiefs of Kickapoo.  Their defense made a stand and their offense went on the attack.  In the end, Kickapoo scored four goals against the Lady Tigers, who had only given up a total of four goals in their previous twelve games, and handed the Ozark JV squad their only loss of the season.  The Ozark JV team’s record is now 11-1-1.

The Ozark JV squad won the Kickapoo JV Tournament by a toss of a coin.  Ozark and Kickapoo played to a 0-0 draw in the early match on Saturday.  Then both teams defeated Smith-Cotton from Sedalia by identical scores of 3-0, so the eventual champion was determined by flipping a coin and luck was on Ozark’s side.  

In the afternoon match against Smith-Cotton, Ozark’s first goal was scored in the 16th minute when sophomore Sarah Suiter kept a ball from crossing the end line, turned and crossed it infront of the goal where sophomore Taylor Jordan volleyed it into the back of the net.  One minute later, Sarah Suiter made a solo run into the box with the ball on her foot and struck the ball past the keeper and into the goal to extend Ozark’s lead to two.  Ozark’s third and final goal of the game came in the 50th minute when sophomore Jenny Cornelius’ cross from the right side was settled by Danielle Poivre and finished with skill.

The JV teams from Ozark and Kickapoo are both unbeaten this season and will face each other again on Monday night at Kickapoo for the rematch to see who can remain undefeated.

The occasional cold downpour did not slow down the Ozark Lady Tigers as they cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Lady Vikings from Parkview in a key district 12 match.  Sophomore defender Megan Jenisch opened the scoring for the Lady Tigers in the first half when she finished a beautiful corner kick served into the middle of the box by Megan Gunnels.  Senior Britain Roberts (pictured above) got the game winner, and her first goal of the season, late in the first half when she followed her own shot and placed the rebound into the back of the net to give Ozark a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Early in the second half, sophomore Megan Gunnels played a ball from midfield to senior Erica Hogan just inside the 18 on the right side of the field.  Erica’s shot sailed over the keeper into the top of the net to extend Ozark’s lead to three.  Parkview sophomore Shelby Stewart and Ozark sophomore Megan Jenisch battled for a ball in the box at the end of a run by Stewart up the left side of the field.  The tussle ended with both players on the soggy turf and a referee’s decision to call Jenisch for a foul and send Stewart to the penalty spot.  Stewart placed the penalty shot solidly into the left corner of the goal to put Parkview on the scoreboard.  Ozark answered back when senior Erica Hogan slotted a ball in the path of junior Brittany Matthew’s run into the box from the right side.  The keeper was unable to stop Brittany’s shot and Ozark extended it’s lead back to three goals.  The final goal of the evening was credited to Ozark freshman Mollie Killion, who served the ball from the left side of the goal.  The ball deflected off the chest of a Parkview defender into the goal.  The game ended with the final score Ozark 5 and Parkview 1.  With the win, Ozark’s record stands at 13-2-1 heading into another big district 12 match with rival Kickapoo on Monday.  All Ozark soccer fans need to be sure to come out to Kickapoo on Monday night to cheer on the Lady Tigers.

The Ozark JV squad extended it’s winning record to 10-0 with a 3-1 victory over Parkview in the second match of the evening at Ozark.  Ozark got goals from sophomore Taylor Jordan (assist Killion), freshman Ellie Schmidly (her first of the season), and another PK from Danielle Poivre.  The undefeated Ozark JV squad will meet the undefeated Kickapoo JV squad at 9:00 am on Saturday morning in the Kickapoo JV tournament.

The games against West Plains that were rained out on March 31st have been rescheduled for Thursday, May 8th.  Varsity is currently scheduled to play first, beginning at 4:30 pm in Ozark.

The Ozark Lady Tigers lost their second game of the season on Monday night to a very tough Glendale Falcons team.  The Lady Falcons, with a deep bench full of seasoned club players, dominated possession in the match and utilized several weapons in continuing to pressure the Ozark defense.  Senior Lorin Opfer (pictured above with Lady Tiger Megan Stodden) muscled her way past two Ozark midfielders and placed a low hard shot just inside the right post of the goal in the 26th minute to score the game winner for her team in the first half of play.

The Lady Falcons stepped back on the pitch in the second half with intensity.  Sophomore Lindsey Sprouse served a beautiful cross from deep in the right corner in the first minute of the second half that found freshman Emily Cline running unmarked on the back post.  Emily finished the ball easily to extend the Falcon’s lead to 2-0.  Later in the game, Emily Cline received a ball from Lorin Opfer directly infront of the goal and made a great turn and strong finish to seal the 3-0 victory for Glendale.

Ozark fought hard.  Sophomore defender Megan Jenisch and sophomore midfielder Megan Stodden had strong performances and sophomore keeper Paige Hemphill had several big saves to shut down further goal scoring opportunities by the surging Glendale offense.  With the loss, Ozark’s record is now 12-2-1.

The Ozark Lady Tiger JV squad recorded its sixth shutout and improved their record for the season to 9-0.  Ozark got goals from Mollie Killion (unassisted) , Sarah Suiter (assist Kelsie Brown) and Becca Wood (assist Larissa Koehler).  To date, the Ozark JV team has outscored its opponents 31 – 3.

Ozark Lady Tiger soccer players donated their time and energy on Thursday to help the Springfield organization Kids Against Hunger package food for children who are currently starving in the island nation of Haiti.  The organization’s current goal is to package and send 100,000 meals to the children of Haiti.

The Lady Tigers spent two hours on Thursday night at the Kids Against Hunger facility in Springfield pre-packaging meals to be sent to Haiti.  The meals packaged are “uniquely formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed by an undernourished child’s body and mind”.

Coach Davidson felt the experience was an excellent opportunity for the Ozark girls to work as a team off the soccer field.  More importantly, it was a chance for each of them to give back to those less fortunate.  When asked, freshman Kelsey Rumley shared that she really enjoyed working with the girls putting together the packets of food.  She said it was a “fun experience and great team bonding”.  Senior Emily Prosser, who provided the photos for the article, said she enjoyed the opportunity to help others while bonding as a team.  She commented that “As a team, we were able to help lots of children in need.”

Kids Against Hunger depends on the generosity of individuals and companies in the community to provide food for the malnourished people of the world.  The money donated to the organization goes towards purchasing materials to make meals; and all contributions are tax deductible.  Donations to the organization can be mailed to:
Kids Against Hunger
PO Box 7108
Springfield, MO 65801

If you have an organization who would like to volunteer time to help package food, you can call Kids Against Hunger at 417-773-1639 or email them at kahmo@att.net.

Ozark’s defense refused to give up a goal to their opponents this weekend and helped lead the Lady Tigers to a second place finish in the Sedalia Tournament hosted by Smith-Cotton.  Ozark won its first game on Friday night against Harrisonville by a score of 4-0, tied Columbia Hickman 0-0 on Saturday morning, and defeated Warrensburg 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.  Ozark earned a total of 15 points (6 points for two wins, 2 points for the tie, 2 points for the two shutout victories, and 5 max goal differential points).  The total points earned placed them in a tie for first place with the Lady Falcons from Glendale.  Glendale won all three of their games, defeating the hosts from Smith-Cotten 4-2 on Friday, defeating Warrensburg 4-2 on Saturday morning, and defeating Columbia Hickman 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.  Since Glendale and Ozark were tied with 15 total points, the tie was settled based on total goals scored during the tournament (Glendale had 9 and Ozark had 6).

In Saturday morning’s game between Ozark and the Columbia Hickman Lady Kewpies, Ozark keeper Paige Hemphill had several big saves to help keep the score knotted at 0-0.  The Lady Kewpies were potentially the most skilled opponent that the Ozark Lady Tigers have faced this season.  Playing a 4-5-1 formation with five midfielders helped the Kewpies own much of the play in the middle of the pitch, and their passing and trapping skills allowed them to maintain a majority of the possession while moving the ball and building several attacks.  But Ozark’s defensive line, lead by starting defenders Jessica Bush (senior), Megan Jenisch (sophomore) and Jayme Braun (freshman), refused to be broken and helped create occassional counter attacks for Ozark on a very cold, wet and muddy field.

Saturday afternoon saw temperatures rise a bit, which added a little more bounce to the step of the players.  Although it was still far from hot outside, the afternoon game between Ozark and Warrensburg proved to be a very physical match, and the referee was inclined to hold his whistle and let the girls battle it out.  Late in the first half, sophomore Alicia Collard made a big run down the right side of the field.  Alicia was able to get a step ahead of the Warrensburg defender and turn towards goal where she blasted a shot past the keeper, scoring the eventual game winner and giving Ozark a 1-0 halftime lead.  On the first play of the second half, Megan Gunnels received a ball from Brittany Matthews in the center of the field and mounted an attack towards the left post.   Megan fired an unstoppable shot to the far post, striking the ball solidly with the outside of her right foot to extend Ozark’s lead to 2-0.  Ozark had a few more scoring opportunties during the second half, but was unable to find the back of the net.  The physical play continued to the final whistle, with Ozark’s defense standing strong and finishing the weekend without giving up a single goal.  With the results from the weekend, Ozark’s record now stands at 12-1-1.  Congratulations ladies on a great showing this weekend!