Ozark Tigers Soccer

The Lady Tigers defeated Neosho by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday night in Ozark.  Megan Gunnels (assisted by Jayme Braun), Jackie Wacha (assisted by Danielle Poivre) and senior Eva Schwert (assisted by Taylor Jordan) scored for Ozark.  Ozark’s three seniors, #10 Brittany Matthews (midfielder), #21 Eva Schwert (forward foreign exchange student from Germany), and #22 Evie Curtis (defender) were honored during the halftime festivities.

Ozark’s JV shutout the Neosho JV squad by a score of 5-0 in the early match. With goals from freshman Meghan Stacy (2), freshman Keysha Burns, freshman Mikaela Branson, and sophomore Mollie Killion.

Eva Schwert gave Ozark the early lead on an assist from Megan Gunnels in the first five minutes of the game, but Glendale senior Jeni Frewin scored with 10 seconds left in the game to give the Lady Falcons the victory over the Lady Tigers on Monday night.  SGF Soccer and the Newsleader have the complete story. (photo above taken by Steve Olson of sgfsoccer.com)

 Ozark’s JV squad defeated Glendale in the early match 4-2 with goals from Meghan Stacy (2), Mollie Killion and Danielle Poivre.

Adidas Tournament of Champions
in Burlington, Iowa
Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd

Group A
Belleville West – Bellville, IL
Ozark High – Ozark, MO
Whitefish Bay – Whitefish Bay, WI

Group B
Park Hill South – Riverside, MO
Rock Bridge High – Columbia, MO
Horlick High – Racine, WI

May 1     1:00 pm     Field 3     Ozark vs Belleville West
May 2     8:00 am     Field 4     Ozark vs Whitefish Bay

May 2     1:30 pm     Field 2     Group A 1st  vs Group B 1st
May 2     3:15 pm     Field 3     Group A 2nd vs Group B 2nd
May 2     3:15 pm     Field 5     Group A 3rd  vs Group B 3rd

The Ozark Lady Tigers scored two goals in the first six minutes of play while this reporter was watching his son run the mile in the junior high track meet, which was also at Willard on Tuesday night. Ozark’s first goal was scored by Alicia Collard (assisted by Megan Stodden) and the second was scored by Stodden (assisted by Taylor Jordan). The third goal came in the 31st minute of play when Jackie Wacha was able to get on the end of a corner served into the box by Megan Gunnels. And the fourth goal for Ozark came with two minutes left in the first half when Eva Schwert broke through the defensive line and headed straight up the center of the field towards the Willard keeper. At the last second, as the Willard keeper came sliding out to stop the attack, Schwert dished the ball off to Alicia Collard who was running a step behind her just off her right shoulder, and Collard tapped the ball into the open net to give Ozark a 4-0 lead at the half.

In the second half, sophomore Danielle Poivre scored her first varsity goal of the season in the 60th minute when she finished a ball crossed into the box by senior Brittany Matthews. Megan Stodden got her second goal of the evening in the 68th minute when she won a ball in the center of the field and drove into the center of the 18-yard box, made a quick move past a Willard defender, and unleashed a strong shot that ripped past the keeper and into the back of the net to extend Ozark’s lead to 6-0. The final goal of the game came in the 74th minute when Ozark Tiger Schwert received the ball on the right side of the 18-yard box, turned and placed a shot across the goal towards the far post where Jackie Wacha was making a run into the goal box and received credit for putting a foot on the ball to usher it over the goal line. Final score 7 -0 in favor of the Ozark Lady Tigers. With the win, Ozark’s record improves to 12-4-0 including 7 shutouts.

In the JV match, the Ozark Lady Tigers defeated the Willard jv squad by a score of 3-0.  Freshman Mikaela Branson had two goals for Ozark and freshman Meghan Stacy (pictured above) had the other.

The Lady Tigers lost a tough match on Saturday in the Kickapoo Tournament to the Lady Longhorns of Parkway West.   The Lady Longhorns pulled Ozark’s keeper out of the goal on a well executed set piece in the 22nd minute, and then quickly crossed the ball into the box to a Longhorn player making a well-timed run  to body the ball over the goal line just before the Tiger keeper was able to smother the play.  And although Ozark had several opportunities in the second half to tie the score, the Longhorn keeper had some big saves to prevent the Tigers from getting on the scoreboard.  With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Ozark senior defender Evie Curtis made a huge save to clear a Parkway West shot off the line.  But the Lady Longhorns scored on the resulting corner kick to ensure the victory on a beautifully finished header goal that was served to the back post.  Final Score Parkway West 2 – Ozark 0.

The final match for the Lady Tigers in the weekend tournament against Parkview was cancelled due to the weather.  Ozark’s record for the season now stands at 11-4-0.

The Ozark Lady Tigers won their first match of the Kickapoo Tournament over the Lady Jays of Jefferson City High School on Friday night, but they had to go to overtime to do it.  The teams were well matched for the game and the momentum, possession of the ball, and attacking periods shifted back and forth between them.  Ozark seemed to own the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes of the game, and Jeff City appeared to be in control the 20 minutes before and after halftime.  But at the end of 80 minutes, the defense of both teams had thwarted all scoring opportunities and the score was still knotted at nil – nil.

Both teams stepped back on the field with renewed vigor in the first overtime period, determined to be the first to score the “golden goal”.  And it was Lady Tiger Alicia Collard who pounced on the opportunity score with four minutes remaining in the first overtime period.  Tiger midfielder Rachel Haden intercepted a ball in the center of the field and headed it strongly past the center back and towards goal where Collard was able to race onto it and go 1v1 with the Jeff City goalkeeper.  Collard skillfully put the ball past the Jay keeper and into the goal to seal the 1-0 victory for the Lady Tigers.

“Kickin for a Cure” is a concept created by Eric Stratman, the director of the Adidas Tournament of Champions.  The Ozark Lady Tigers have been invited to participate in this premier level high school girls soccer tournament scheduled for May 1 and 2, 2009 in Burlington, Iowa.  The event will feature many of the top 50 high school girls teams in the country.  All teams participating in the tournament have been asked to join in the fight against Breast Cancer and to raise funds to support the search for a cure.

Benefit Concert Saturday April 25th

6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Ozark High School Gym

featuring

Branson’s “4Ever Motown”

4Ever Motown has generously agreed to donate their time and energy for this benefit concert and all proceeds from the concert will be used to support the fight against Breast Cancer.  The Ozark Lady Tigers plan to present checks to the Tournament of Champions “Kickin for a Cure” campaign and to our local “Christian County Relay for Life” event.  Please mark your calendar and plan to come out for a fun evening full of great music for a great cause!

The Ozark Lady Tigers came away with a big win in Branson on Tuesday night, defeating the Lady Pirates by a score of 10 to 1.  The first goal for Ozark was a PK scored by Megan Gunnels ten minutes into the game after Tiger teammate Alicia Collard juggled the ball five yards into the box with her head and was fouled.  The second goal for the Tigers came two minutes later when Rachel Haden hit a long range shot from over 35 yards out on the right that lifted up and over the Pirate keeper and settled in the far corner of the goal.  Gunnels scored again for Ozark in the 21st minute as she fought her way through a mob of defenders and nailed the ball into the back of the goal with determination.  Lady Pirate #13 Neva Raschel scored the only goal of the game for Branson in the 24th minute of play when she placed a direct free kick from over thirty yards out just under the cross bar in the upper right corner of the goal.  The Lady Tigers answered back quickly as they continued to roll through the first half with intensity.  Gunnels served a corner into the box in the 26th minute and Jackie Wacha played it back out of the box to Brittany Matthews who was waiting just outside the box on the right to strike it solidily into the goal extending Ozark’s lead to 4-1.  Matthews and Wacha teamed up to score again in the 32nd minute when Brittany chased down a ball in the right corner where the Pirate keeper had come out to try to grab it.  The ball scooted away from the keeper towards the end line where Matthews got a strong right foot on it and crossed it skillfully across the face of the goal where Wacha was there waiting on the back post to body it over the goal line.  Wacha would get another goal for Ozark in the final minute of the first half when Gunnels played a ball into her path as she made a run up the left side of the field into the box and she knocked it in to increase the Tigers’ lead to 6-1 before the break.

In the second half, Alicia Collard scored two goals for Ozark (assisted by Gunnels and Schwert).  Wacha scored her third of the evening on an assist from Taylor Jordan.  And Gunnels ended the scoring for the Tigers late in the game when she served a direct free kick into the six-yard box that  deflected off a Pirate player and into the goal.  The final score of the match was 10-1 in favor of the Lady Tigers.  With the win, Ozark’s record improves to 10-3-0 on the season.

In the earlier JV match, the Ozark Lady Tigers were also victorious over the Lady Pirates.  Ozark’s JV squad defeated Branson by a score of 2-0 with goals from freshmen Keysha Burns and Mikaela Branson.  Sophomore sweeper Kelsey Rumley was a wall on defense that no Pirate player could get past.

The Ozark Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Eagles at Junge Field in Joplin by a score of 3-0 on Monday night.  All three goals for the Lady Tigers came in the first half. The first was a bullet fired a close range by forward Alicia Collard in the 17th minute of play which grazed through the Joplin keepers gloves and into the far side of the goal (assisted by Megan Stodden) . The second goal was scored by senior Eva Schwert in the 32nd minute on an assist from Collard.  Joplin’s closest scoring attempt came with six minutes left in the first half when they had a shot that hit the crossbar and then fell in front of the goal where several players were pushing to get a foot on the ball. Tiger defender Jayme Braun was there to clear the ball off the line and prevent Joplin from scoring.  Braun then added the third and final goal for Ozark in the final two minutes of the first half when she curled a shot with her left foot into the goal from 20 yards out. The 3-0 Tiger halftime lead would hold through an uneventful second half to be the final score for the game.  The Ozark JV squad also defeated the Joplin Eagles 1-0 on freshman Mikaela Branson’s gaming winning goal.

For a second night in a row, the Lady Tigers went to overtime.  In Friday night’s meeting with the Lady Vikings from Parkview, Ozark again came from behind to tie the game and send the match into extra periods.  But unlike the prior evening’s result, the battle with Parkview would not end with a quick golden goal.  Instead, after two 10-minute overtime periods, the teams went to penalty kicks to determine the winner.

Junior Shelby Stewart had a huge game for the Lady Vikings.  Her dazzling speed created numerous scoring opportunities, including four breakaways where she went 1v1 with Ozark keeper Paige Hemphill.  Stewart opened the scoring in the 15th minute as she beat two Ozark defenders down the right side of the field and turned to goal, finishing strongly to give Parkview a 1-0 early lead.  Ozark would answer back in the 27th minute when Eva Schwert sent a dangerous cross into the goal box.  A Parkview defender attempted to clear the ball, but it deflected off her shin and into the goal to tie the score at 1-1.  Late in the first half, Stewart got loose up the center of the field for her second 1v1 attack on the Ozark goal.  Ozark keeper Paige Hemphill came out to meet her at the top of box and aggressively slid to tackle the ball away.  And the score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime.

Both teams came out with energy after the break.  Ozark earned a corner just over two minutes into the second half, but when the ball was cleared, Parkview was off to the races on a quick counterattack.  Parkview’s Kelsey Loderhose was streaking up the right side of the field with the ball, and as a lone Ozark defender closed in to apply pressure, Loderhose made a pass that found Stewart flying up the center of the field.  And for the third time in the match, it was Stewart closing in 1v1 against Ozark keeper Hemphill.  Stewart finished skillfully to again give the lead back to the Lady Vikings.  The Tigers were not willing to give in.  They fought back hard, dominating the possession during the next 25 minutes of the match.  And with just 13 minutes left in the game, Ozark forward Megan Gunnels found a pocket of space just outside the 18 on the left side of the field and hit a laser shot into the far corner of the goal to tie the score at 2-2.  But the game was not over. Parkview’s Stewart, with her amazing speed, managed to get loose one more time in the final two minutes of stoppage time for her fourth 1v1 attack on Ozark’s keeper.  Hemphill again came out aggressively to meet her.  Stewart managed to get by Hemphill with the ball, but lost her footing in the process.  As she struggled to regain her footing and control the ball as an Ozark defender came rushing in, the referee called her for “handling” the ball, negating the scoring opportunity.  But the game was still not over, in the final 30 seconds, Parkview managed to win the ball back and get one more good shot on goal.  Hemphill had to dive to her left to push the ball just wide of the goal.  Parkview’s final corner was cleared by Ozark and the ref blew his whistle to end regulation time.

After two well fought ten-minute overtime periods, the score remained tied at 2-2, and it was on to penalty kicks, which went down to the final kick.  Here’s the recap:

Ozark = Megan Jenisch. good  1-0
Parkview = Jessica Maerz. good 1-1
Ozark = Megan Gunnels. good 2-1
Parkview = Shelby Stewart, good 2-2
Ozark = Rachel Haden, good 3-2
Parkview = stopped by Paige Hemphill 3-2
Ozark = shot over the crossbar 3-2
Parkview = shot pushed over the crossbar by Hemphill 3-2
Ozark = shot stopped by Parkview’s keeper 3-2
Parkview = shot wide to the left.  Final 3-2 Ozark!!!!