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!