The West Plains Lady Zizzers got off to a good start at the Neosho Tournament on Friday night, playing a solid game against Parkview. In a matchup of teams that had played each other just 10 days earlier, West Plains came out on top again, this time 3-0. We didn’t get to see either side at full strength as once again both sides were missing some players.
West Plains got on the scoreboard quickly in the 3rd minute of action. Senior Tiffany Vincent fed a ball to Junior Michelle Esterle, who took a couple of touches and placed the ball past the Parkview Keeper for a 1-0 lead. Despite both teams moving the ball well and creating some scoring opportunities, the score remained 1-0 until the second half of action. In the 6th minute of the second half, a Lady Zizzer was tripped in the box and West Plains was awarded a Penalty Kick. Sophomore Mollie Plocher stepped up and scored the Penalty for a 2-0 West Plains lead. Michelle Esterle would add another goal in the 14th minute. This time Michelle was sent in on goal on a ball played over the head of the Parkview defense by Sophomore Sam Murray. Esterle ran onto the ball and placed a ball into the far corner past the onrushing Keeper. With the Win, West Plains advanced to the semifinals where they faced the Joplin Eagles.
Facing their second stright Ozark Conference opponent in the tournament, West Plains held tough defensively in the first half, thanks in large part to Junior Goalkeeper Jamie Brassfield who had her finest performance of the season, making 16 saves and snuffing out several other chances by Joplin. The Lady Zizzers as a whole didn’t play as well Saturday morning against Joplin. Joplin had a considerable size advantage and dominated balls in the air. The Eagles played a very aggressive game and outshot West Plains by a considerable margin. The score remained 0-0 until the second half. In the first minute, Joplin took the lead as the ball was played in to Lauren Schwab. As she went in to stop the attack, Mollie Plocher slipped on the wet field and Schwab broke in alone on Brassfield. Brassfield managed to get a hand on Schwab’s shot, but not enough to keep it out of the goal. Joplin added an insurance goal in the 8th minute of the second half as Kelsey Sanders and another Joplin players executed 2 give and go’s to beat the Lady Zizzer defense. Sanders shot from 15 yards mad it 2-0 Joplin. That would be all Joplin would need as they advanced to the Championship game. West Plains then faced Joplin McAuley in the 3rd Place match.
West Plains agains came out slow as McAuley seemed to have the better of the play in the first half. The only goal of the match would come in the 27th minute as McAuley Senior, Alli O’Dell lifted a ball over West Plains Keeper Jamie Brassfield’s head and just under the crossbar at the backside of the goal. The Lady Zizzers came out strong in the second half with their play resembling Friday night’s game against Parkview. West Plains had the better of the play in the second half. They were able to generate several chances including a chance at the far post by Freshman Kelly Smith that went just wide around the 20th minute of the half. For the second straight game, West Plains was unable to find the back of the net.
The Lady Zizzers record now stands at 4-5-0 on the season. Next up are games Monday, April 2 at home against Ozark.
Neosho Tournament Standings:
1st Place – Neosho
2nd Place – Joplin
3rd Place – McAuley
4th Place – West Plains
5th Place – Greenwood
6th Place – Parkview
7th Place – Van Buren (AR)
8th Place – Hillcrest
