West Plains Zizzer Soccer

The 2009 All-Ozark Conference Girls Soccer Teams were released today. Four Lady Zizzers received recognition from the Ozark Conferences Coaches. Senior Beth Kittle was named 1st Team All-Conference, Junior Katie Shanon was named 2nd Team All-Conference, Junior Ashley Martion and Freshman Anela Auala were named Honorable Mention All-Conference. For the complete All-Ozark Conference Teams, visit SGFsoccer.com. Congratulations Ladies!

Picture by Steve Olson of SGFsoccer.com (MSSU vs Crowder College Exhibition Game – August 2008)

Former Zizzer Soccer standout, Stuart Ziegler, found out in late January that he would no longer be able to play soccer at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. The school dropped it’s soccer program. Ziegler, a Freshman, played in 13 games and started 10 for the Lions last Fall, recording 1 Assist. With the news that Missouri Southern would no longer field a team, the recruiting process began again for Stuart.

The process led Stuart back to a place he had visited the year before, Buffalo, New York and Medaille College. Head Coach Dan Krzyzanowicz, who had recruited Stuart previously, showed an interest in bringing Stuart to New York. Coach K has a strong program at Medaille and sees Stuart as a player who can contribute to the team’s success. Medaille is coming off a 2008 season that saw them reach the NCAA Division III National Tournament where they lost 2-1 in Overtime to eventual National Champion Messiah College.

I think this will be a great fit for Stuart. He and Coach K have a relationship that dates back to soccer camp at Indiana University, so they are familiar with each other. In my conversations with Coach K, he comes across as a person who really cares about his players. Stuart will also be in an environment where he will be challenged and also be part of a team that has a chance to compete on a national level. Congratulations Stuart! We wish you the best of luck in New York.

The Class 2 District 5 All-District Teams were announced today. Five Lady Zizzers received recognition.

Beth kittle was named 1st Team All-District, Katie Shannon was named 2nd Team All-District and Anela Auala, Sammi Phegley, and Mollie Plocher were named Honorable Mention All-District. Congratulations ladies. For the complete All-District list, visit SGFsoccer.com.

Photo by R & R Photography – Click here to visit their site or click the Zizzer Soccer Photos link in the right hand column.

Lady Zizzer Senior, Beth Kittle (pictured against Catholic), has been selected to play in the Southwest Missouri Senior All-Star Game on Monday, June 15 at Cooper Soccer Complex in Springfield, MO. The game will feature some of the top Senior Girls Soccer players from all over Southwest Missouri. For more information check out the announcement on SGFsoccer.com.

The game is hosted by SGFsoccer.com and the Springfield Soccer Club.

The 2009 Lady Zizzer Soccer Season came to an end Saturday in Bolivar as the Warrensburg Pink Tigers handed them a 4-0 Loss. (Why the Pink Tigers? Check out their website – They have some pretty cool stuff going on up there – Great Stuff Coach Thompson!).

The Lady Zizzers came out and moved the ball around for the first few minutes of the game. After an early scoring opportunity was missed, the Tigers started coming back harder. Led by the quick feet of Brenna Lacaillade, the Tigers took the lead in the 10th minute of play. After dribbling past several Lady Zizzer defenders Lacaillade sent a shot past Sammi Phegley for a 1-0 lead.

At that point, the Lady Zizzers seemed to sit back and let things come to them rather than be the aggressor. Despite some more chances, the Tigers weren’t able to add to their lead. As it looked like the Lady Zizzers might weather the storm and get to halftime down 1-0 with a chance to regroup, the Tigers struck twice.

In the 30th minute, Jallisa Lewis headed in a corner kick from Sharniece Lewis to make it 2-0. Five minutes later, Kailtin Nelson knocked home a loose ball that popped free after a crowd of players tried to head it inside the 18 yard box. The halftime score would be 3-0.

In the second half, I thought the girls played more aggressively. Being down 3-0, knowing we had to score to make it a game, we moved some people around a little bit. The effort in the second half was good. We were able to do some good things. After about fifteen minutes, we changed again. This time it was a formation change to try to push more players forward. We were able to move the ball, but struggled in the final third of the field. The change also opened things up more for the Tigers.

With fewer players back defensively, the girls in the back had to work extra hard and they responded well. The Tigers would add one more goal in the 71st minute of play. Sharniece Lewis sent a shot from the right side that went over Sammi Phegley’s head and into the far side of the net for the final score of 4-0. The girls worked hard until the final whistle and have nothing to hang their heads about. Warrensburg is a good team and deserving of the victory. I wish them Good Luck in their game Monday against Harrisonville.

From where we started to where we ended was a journey of highs and lows. Think back to the Harrison game…….I think we made some great strides individually and as a team. This has been a great group of girls to work with. They like each other as teammates on the field and as friends off the field. To the 5 Seniors who have given us a big part of the last four years of their lives, we say “Thank You”. We wish you nothing but the best for your future. For the rest of the girls, after a little relaxation, we hope you work hard in the offseason and come back to play again in the Spring.

Steve Olson of SGFsoccer.com was at the game today taking pictures. Click Here to see all the scores from Saturday. The pictures are up. Click Here to see the pictures Steve took from the game and others he has taken of the Lady Zizzers. Thanks Steve!

Click Here to view Pictures from the West Plains v Parkview Game from Tuesday. They were taken by Joe George, a Parkview supporter. Thanks for sharing.

Photo by Steve ‘Ole’ Olson of SGFsoccer.com. Click the photo to see more pictures from the game.

In their final Ozark Conference game of the season, the Lady Zizzers defeated Hillcrest 2-0. West Plains wasted little time taking the lead in this one. After winning a corner kick in the 4th minute, Mollie Plocher’s sent a ball to the back post where Tasha Ugbah headed it in for a 1-0 lead. The Lady Zizzers kept up the pressure. in the 15th minute, Ugabah added a second goal. This time the setup came from Bre Wright. After working the ball inside, a pass was made out to the Wright on the right side. wright sent a cross in to Ugbah who snuck a shot inside the near post for a 2-0 lead. Despite several more good chances, that would be all of the scoring in the game. Sammi Phegley and the Lady Zizzer defense had to scramble a couple of times to keep the Hornets off the board. The backs played focused and aggressive in the second half, something that we lacked at times Tuesday night and in the first half Wednesday. West Plains wraps up Ozark Conference play with a record of 2-7-0 and a 6-16-0 record overall. Next up will be a First Round District match against the Warrensburg Tigers. Kickoff in that one is scheduled for 11:00am Saturday at Bolivar. Let’s hope the rain stays away. Should the games be cancelled on Saturday, they would be played on Monday with game times of 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 5:00pm, and 7:00pm anticipated.

In the final JV game of the season, Hillcrest came out on top 1-0. West Plains had a number of chances, but couldn’t find the net. A couple of really good saves by the Hillcrest Keeper kept the Lady Zizzers off the scoreboard. Hillcrest didn’t have as many shots as West Plains, but they were able to put one of them in the goal. That shot came in the 21st minute of the second half. The girls played well and finished the season in a positive way, trying to play the right way. Thanks for your effort this season girls. the JV ends their season with a record of 2-10-1.

As noted above, Steve Olson came out to the game and took some pictures. Please visit his website at SGFsoccer.com for all the soccer news in the area. He has a picture from the game posted and other information. You can check out all his photos on his flickr site or his SmugMug site. Thanks Steve!

Today’s Varsity Start Time for the match at Hillcrest has been moved up to 3:00pm to try to beat the forecasted weather. The JV game will be played afterward, weather permitting. Games will be played at Hillcrest High School Soccer Field.

Playing on the turf at JFK Stadium, the game was started about 10 minutes early in an attempt to beat the weather. That attempt failed. 58 seconds into the game a flash of lightning halted everything. About and hour and forty minutes later, play resumed. After a few very windy minutes, things turned off quite nicely.

If you watched the play from the edge of one 18 yard box to the edge of the other 18 yard box, it was a great entertaining game. The difference however came inside the 18 yard box. Parkview was able to capitailze on their scoring opportunities 6 times, West Plains wasn’t able to capitalize although they did have several shots on goal and a few shots that just missed the goal.

Two minutes after play restarted , Shelby Stewart slid a ball inside the far post to give Parkview a 1-0 lead. The Zizzers were able to keep it close until the 28th minute when Stewart would pick up her second goal. Three minutes later, Jessica Maerz would score to give Parkview a 3-0 lead at the half. West Plains best chance to score came when Katie Shannon’s cross found Kelly Smith near the back post, but Smith’s shot went wide of the goal. The Zizzers able to get a few more good chances, but came away empty. In the 27th minute of the half, Stewart picked up her third goal of the game followed by Maerz three minutes later. Stewart would finish the scoring with a goal in the 34th minute of the half. Final Score PArkview 6, West Plains 0.

There was some good ball movement by West Plains. There were even times where the girls were able to keep the ball on Parkview’s end for extended periods. But it was the defensive side where the Zizzers struggled on this night. Things never really seemed to be in sync. Hopefully we can put it all together on Wednesday as we travel to Hillcrest. The Varsity game starts at 4:00pm with the JV match to follow. Due to the weather delay, the JV game against Parkview was cancelled.

Photo by R & R Photography – Click here to visit their site or click the Zizzer Soccer Photos link in the right hand column.

The Lady Zizzers opened a busy final week of the regular season with a 5-0 loss to Springfield Catholic on Monday evening. On a beautiful night for soccer, Catholic got the game winner in the 10th minute of play. Off a corner kick, Maddy Renner’s shot was cleared off the line by Mollie Plocher, but the referee awarded a goal because the ball crossed the goalline before being cleared. Despite some other good chances for Catholic, the score would remain 1-0 at the half. Wes tPlains didn’t play particularly well early on, but started to pick things up in the latter part of the half.

Catholic doubled their lead in the first minute of the second half as Anna DeLong got free behind the defense and sent a shot past Sammi Phegley to make it 2-0. Bekah Bade beat a defender one on one and fired a shot into the corner of the net in the 63rd minute making the score 3-0 in favor of Catholic. West Plains played better in the second half, connecting some passes through the midfield, but couldn’t get in behind the Catholic defense to create good scoring chances. In the 78th minute, Mandy Bailes scored to make it 4-0. Jordan Banasik would round out the scoring in the 80th minute. Final score 5-0 Catholic. Catholic came into the game as the #1 ranked Class 1 team in the State and they are deserving of that ranking. It wasn’t the Lady Zizzers best game of the season and some of that can be attributed to the Irish who spread the field and move the ball well.

In JV action, Catholic prevailed 6-0. Catholic got on the board in the 10th minute and added a second goal just about a minute later. They would add to their lead with goals in the 17th minute and 27th minute for a 4-0 halftime lead. West Plains started to play a little better in the second half, but weren’t able to maintain it for the rest of the game. Catholic would score twomore goals in the second half. The first goal came in the 6th minute and the final goal came midway through the half.

Next up for West Plains will be back to back trips to Springfield. On Tuesday, the girls will face Parkview at JFK Stadium. The Varsity game will kickoff at 5:00pm with the JV to follow. Wednesday we will travel to Hillcrest. The Varsity will start at 4:00pm with the JV to follow. Wednesday will be the final JV game of the season. District play for the Varsity will begin on Saturday at Bolivar as we take on Warrensburg at 11:00am.