West Plains Zizzer Soccer

The date for the third Annual Zizzer Soccer Alumni Game has been finalized. The game will be held on Saturday, July 12 at 5:00pm at the WPSA Soccer Park on South Highway 63. The game will be played on the new U-19 field if it is ready. There will be a work day scheduled for May 31 at 10:00am to help get the field in playing shape. If it isn’t ready, we will use one of the smaller fields. Come out and help get things ready.

The game will be a fundraiser for the WPSA. Players will be asked to make a donation to the WPSA. Everyone is invited to come out and watch. A good time is had by all. Last year there was even a barbecue. Money raised the last two years has gone toward completion of the restrooms which have been in use this Spring and are a major upgrade over the port-a-potties. The next major building project is a concession stand/pavillion/(and I think more restrooms). Come out and support the WPSA and watch the former Zizzers in action. The game is open to anyone who played soccer at WPHS - guys and girls. If we have enough we can even have a separate game for the ladies.

We look forward to seeing you there. If you have any questions, contact Coach Schmitt. The picture above was taken by Randy Hunt at the 2007 Alumni Game. Click on the picture to see more photos from the game.

It was a great game to watch and be a part of as the West Plains Lady Zizzers squared off with the Bolivar Lady Liberators on Monday Night in Willard. The weather was great except for a little wind. The teams battled hard in the first half with Bolivar getting the best scoring chance on a header in the box that Jamie Brassfield snagged to rob Jordan Halbrook of a goal. The game would be scoreless at the half.

Bolivar had the momentum in the second half and turned it into a goal in the 44th minute. An errant West Plains pass to the middle of the field was picked up by a Bolivar player who found Jonna Welch(?) breaking toward goal. Welch’s shot found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. The Lady Zizzers didn’t let up. In the 55th minute, Mollie Plocher picked up a loose ball in the middle of the Lady Zizzer’s offensive half. Plocher dribbled to her left a fired a shot from 20 yards out. The high shot went off the Bolivar Keeper’s hands and across the goalline to tie the game at 1-1. Both teams kept the intensity up and battled back and forth. In the 68th minute of play, Michelle esterle took a pass and worked her way around a couple of defenders before firing a shot over the Bolivar Keeper from 15 yards away. 2-1 Lady Zizzers. Bolivar wouldn’t quit. Bolivar broke in again and hit a high shot that Jamie Brassfield pushed away off the crossbar. The rebound was cleared out by the Lady Zizzer defense to keep the score 2-1. Then in the 79th minute, Bolivar came at the goal one more time. Brassfield made the initial save, but Lindsy Archer was there to put in the rebound and tie the game 2-2. That’s how regulation would end.

In Overtime, both teams continued to fight hard. The first 15 minute overtime period expired with neither team finding the net. The second overtime looked like much of the same. The teams created chances, but couldn’t put it away. Just 5 minutes from going to a Penalty Kick Shootout, West Plains was whistled for a foul about 40 yards from goal. The resulting free kick was sent into the box where Jonna Welch ran onto it and knocked in the game winner in the 105th minute. Bolivar advances to the District Final with a 3-2 win. Bolivar will face Catholic who defeated Willard 8-0.

The loss drops the Lady Zizzer’s record to 7-16-0. The girls have nothing to hang their heads about. We did the things we wanted to do. We played hard and left everything on the field. We put ourselves in a postion to win the game. We had our chances. It’s tough to lose a game like that knowing you are so close. But it is also good to go out playing well. We got a great effort from all of the girls. The game brings an end to the careers of three Seniors who will be missed: Jamie Brassfield, Michelle Esterle, and Audi Morrison. Great Job Ladies! For the rest of the girls it gives them something to think about for next year. Hopefully we can work hard in the offseason and build off of that. Last night was a great game. Both teams played their hearts out. It’s unfortunate that somebody had to lose, but that is sports.

On a crazy weather day, the West Plains Lady Zizzers traveled to Willard to take on the Marshfield Lady Jays in the First Round of Districts. The game started late because of weather delays during the Bolivar/Greenwood game and then that game went into Overtime. That didn’t stop the Lady Zizzers from picking up their first District Win since 2005 (Double Overtime Win against Lebanon). West Plains got things going early. In the third minute of play, Michelle Esterle brought the ball down the field. Esterle laid a pass off to Emma Ray who crossed the ball to the far post where Katie Shannon was waiting to knock it in for a 1-0 lead. Mollie Plocher would make it 2-0 in the 16th minute. Beth Kittle sent a long free kick over the head of the Marshfield defense. Plocher outran a Lady Jay defender to get the ball and put a shot past the onrushing Goalkeeper. Despite some other chances, the score would remain 2-0 at the half. Defensively the Lady Zizzers played fairly well and were able to help each other out when they did make a mistake.

The second half started a little slow. Then in the 5th minute, Michelle Esterle gave West Plains a 3-0 lead. Kalie Simpkins found Dani Valade with the ball. Valade crossed into the box for Esterle whose shot found the back of the net. Esterle would close out the scoring in the 16th minute. This time she was assisted by Audi Morrison and Katie Shannon. Despite some dangerous scoring chances for Marshfield, the Lady Zizzers were able to preserve the shutout.

In their best effort of the last couple of weeks, West Plains moved the ball well. The communication and teamwork were keys to the victory. With the win, West Plains improves to 7-15 on the season and advances to the District Semifinals. West Plains will face #2 Bolivar at 7:00pm on Monday Night at Willard. Bolivar defeated Greenwood 3-2 in Overtime. In other action, Catholic defeated Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty 18-0. (Liberty had advanced from the Play-In Game Friday with a 7-0 victory over Pleasant Hope - Liberty’s first ever win). Willard defeated McAuley 4-1. #1 Catholic will take on #4 Willard at 5:00pm Monday.

In the last match of the regular season, the Ozark Lady Tigers defeated the Lady Zizzers 5-0. Ozark got on the board quickly with a goal in the first minute

Senior midfielder Erica Hogan played a ball forward to sophomore striker Alicia Collard, who scored what proved to be the game winner. Collard scored again in the 8th minute to give the Lady Tigers a 2-0 lead. Rachel Haden would score the third goal of the game in the 24th minute on a penalty kick after a handball was called in the box.

Ozark would add two more goals in the second half. In the eighth minute of the half, Megan Gunnels received a ball and beat a couple of defenders and scored the fourth goal for Ozark. Britain Roberts finished the scoring with a goal in the 32nd minute of the half. Despite the loss, the Lady Zizzers level of play is coming back to where it needs to be heading into District play on Saturday.

The Ozark Tigers website has some pictures from last night’s game. Go to the site, click on the flickr badge on the right hand side.

In JV action, Ozark won 6-0. The Lady Tigers scored 4 goals in the first half and added two more in the second half. The match was the last of the season for the JV who were able to do some good things offensively.

Up next for the Varsity is a First Round District Game at 2:15pm Saturday against Marshfield. The game will be played at Willard. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals at 7:00pm on Monday against the Bolivar/Greenwood winner.

The Senior Photos taken by Randy Hunt on Senior Night are available at the new Zizzer Soccer Photo Site. Below are some samples.

Michelle Esterle (Above Center)

Audi Morrison (Above Center)

Jamie Brassfield (Above Center)

Facing off against the #1 seed in Class 1 District 12, the Lady Zizzers came out playing a little scared. It was a bit surprising considering the teams they have already played. Catholic wasted little time capitalizing on the Zizzers timid play. Anna DeLong found herself in the box alone with the ball and placed a shot into the far side netting for a 1-0 lead in the first minute of play. DeLong added another goal just 3 minutes later. Rachel Herron made it 3-0 in the 11th minute. In the 15th minute, Shelby Hatz scored her first goal of the game to make it 4-0. Three minutes later, Andrea Parker made it 5-0. In the 22nd minute Hatz finished the scoring with her second goal of the game.

In the first half, the Lady Zizzers weren’t communicating well. We weren’t in good position defensively a lot of times and we weren’t aggressive enough going to the ball. In the second half we did a better job of working together. We were in better position defensively and we didn’t dive in at balls near as much. We played much more aggressively and were able to put a little pressure on the Catholic defense. The loss drops the Lady Zizzers season record to 6-14. The last regular season game is Thursday at Ozark. Varsity will play first at 4:30pm.

The JV game had a similar result. West Plains actually played fairly well to start off, but after Catholic scored a couple of goals, the play dropped off. The halftime score was 8-0. The second half was much better for the Lady Zizzers. The aggressiveness and team work improved as well as the play on defense. After Catholic scored to make it 9-0, West Plains got on the board. Brina DeBrown picked up a loose ball and passed ahead to Rebecca Wooldridge who outran the Catholic defender and put a shot past the Keeper to make it 9-1. Catholic would add another goal to make it 10-1, before ending the game with about 5 minutes remaining with a goal that made it 11-1.

Randy Hunt has a new photo site available with his soccer pictures. It has about 500 pictures from this season available including Senior Night photos. Be sure to check it out.

Although the final score read 2-0 in favor of the Lady Zizzers, you wouldn’t have guessed it from watching the game. The Nixa Lady Eagles controlled most of the play during Friday’s game. West Plains was able to get two goals from Michelle Esterle to come away with the victory. In the 16th minute, Esterle pressured a Nixa defender and went one on one against the Nixa Keeper, and fired a shot past her for a 1-0 lead. Just four minutes later, Esterle scored again. This time the goal came off a corner kick by Beth Kittle. The Lady Zizzers managed a couple of other shots, but couldn’t add to their lead.

Nixa applied pressure and had several good scoring chances, but the Lady Zizzer defense and Keeper Jamie Brassfield kept them off the scoreboard. Overall, West Plains didn’t play nearly as well as they have the last couple of weeks. The communication wasn’t as strong as it needed to be and we weren’t very patient defensively. Offensively, our passes weren’t on target and we didn’t attack balls in the air. With the win, The Lady Zizzers improve to 6-13 on the season with two regular season games remaining. Next up is a matchup with Catholic on Monday.

In JV action, Nixa defeated West Plains 3-0. West Plains was able to keep Nixa off the scoreboard in the first half, but couldn’t continue that in the second half. Nixa scored just a couple of minutes into the second half and would add two more goals before it was over. The JV has two games remaining, at Catholic Monday and at Ozark on Thursday.

The seeding for the Class 1 District 12 Tournament to be held at Willard have been announced. West Plains was seeded third and will face Marshfield in the First Round of Districts. The list of seeds and the schedule and are:

#1 Catholic
#2 Bolivar
#3 West Plains
#4 Willard
#5 McAuley
#6 Marshfield
#7 Greenwood
#8 Mountain View Liberty
#9 Pleasant Hope

Play-in Game - Friday, May 9
6:00pm - Mountain View Liberty vs Pleasant Hope

First Round - Saturday, May 10
9:00am - Willard vs McAuley
10:45am - Catholic vs Mountain View Liberty/Pleasant Hope Winner
12:30pm - Bolivar vs Greenwood
2:15pm - West Plains vs Marshfield

Semifinals - Monday, May 12
5:00pm -Willard/McAuley Winner vs Catholic/Mountain View Liberty/Pleasant Hope Winner
7:00pm - Bolivar/Greenwood Winner vs West Plains/Marshfield Winner

Final - Wednesday, May 14
6:00pm - Semifinal Winner vs Semifinal Winner

The Lady Zizzers made the trek to Waynesville on Tuesday. With 4 goals from Senior Katie Pritchard, The Lady Tigers were victorious. Pritchard is nearing 2nd Place All-Time in Missouri for goals scored in a career. Waynesville was able to get on the board in the 11th minute on a goal from Natascha Lord, who hit an open shot from 14 yards away. Four minutes later, Pritchard notched her first goal after beating two defenders off the dribble and firing a shot into the far side of the goal. In the 25th minute Pritcahrd scored again on a similar play. Lynette Newcomb finished the first half scoring in the 40th minute as she redirected a cross from Lord to make it 4-0. The score could have been worse if not for some blocked shots by the Lady Zizzer defense and some spectacular saves by Goalkeeper Jamie Brassfield. The best save of the day and maybe the year was when Brassfield robbed Pritchard after Pritchard had hit a half-volley from the middle of the 18 yard box.

Pritchard started the second half with two quick goals. The first came in the 1st minute as she beat a couple of defenders off the dribble and put the ball in for the hattrick. In the 10th minute, Pritchard scored her fourth goal of the game on a penalty kick after West Plains was whistled for a handball in the 18 yard box. The final Waynesville goal came seven minutes later as Orielle Thomas put home a rebound after an initial save by Brassfield.

Despite the score, there were several positives for West Plains to take from the game. The attempts to get balls wide offensively were there. Communication among players continues to improve. People are starting to settle in to their new positions and are appearing more comfortable. With the win, Waynesville clinched at least a share of the Ozark Conference Championship. They can win the title outright with a win over Parkview on Thursday or a Glendale loss in any of their remaining Ozark Conference games.

In JV action, Waynesville won 4-0. The Lady Tigers got 2 goals in each half for the win. West Plains played alright at times, especially in the second half. In the second half, the Lady Zizzers began to play together more and were more successful moving the ball.

Next up for West Plains are games Friday at Nixa, weather permitting.