The Waynesville Tigers came to town on Tuesday evening to help the Zizzers celebrate Senior Night. Zizzer Seniors, Kristin Herron and Tiffany Vincent were honored along with their parents between the JV and Varsity Games.
West Plains came out playing well defensively against a Tiger team that seemed to be pressing a little bit early and not quite finding their rhythm. The Zizzers although not generating much offensively, were able to keep Waynesville off the scoreboard until the 22nd minute. The Tigers found a streaking Natasha Lord with a through ball in behind the Zizzer defense. Lord went in alone on Zizzer Keeper, Michelle Esterle, and put one in to give Waynesville a 1-0 lead.
In the 31st minute, Erica Combs put Waynesville up 2-0. West Plains was able to string a few passes together, but was only able to penetrate the Tiger defense once. West Plains got one ball near the 18 yard box with a chance to shoot, but took one touch too many and the Tiger Defense snuffed out the opportunity. The half would end with the Tigers leading 2-0.
Waynesville wasted little time adding to their lead in the second half. After the Zizzers took the kickoff, Waynesville intercepted the ball and found Katie Pritchard on the right side of the field. Pritchard dribbled around a couple of players and then cut across the field in front of the goal. She went around a couple more diving defenders and fired a shot in for a 3-0 lead.
A little later in the half, a Tiger cross found Natasha Lord just outside the 18 yard box. Lord drilled a shot off the inside of the far post for the final goal of the night and a 4-0 Tiger lead. West Plains didn’t quit fighting, but Waynesville proved to be too strong. Overall the Zizzers showed a strong effort and played well defensively as a team, especially in the first half. A few breakdowns were made and the Tigers were able to capitalize like good teams usually do. The girls kept playing hard the whole game and should be proud of their effort. West Plains drops to 8-14 on the season and 2-6 in the Ozark Conference. Waynesville improves to 14-3 and 6-2 in the Ozark Conference. Next up for the Zizzers is a trip to Rolla on Thursday to take on the Bulldogs at their brand new field at Rolla High School. The new field is located just East of the Football Stadium.
In JV action, Waynesville defeated West Plains 5-0. The Zizzers were able to create some scoring chance on the counter attack in this game. Kaley Vance was sent in twice in the first half, but was unable to find the back of the net. Waynesville picked up their first goal in the 17th minute. The Tigers played a Free Kick to a runner near the back post for a goal. Waynesville added to their lead in the 30th minute. This time a Tiger corner kick was cleared out, but a Tiger Back came rushing in to pick up the clearance. Her shot from about 20 yards went off the fingertips of Zizzer Keeper, Tiffany Mann. Despite some moments of good play, both offensively and fdefensively, the Zizzers trailed 2-0 at the half.
In the second half, The Zizzers kept Waynesville at bay until the 19th minute. The Tigers would add a fourth goal in the 20th minute. Waynesville would add another goal to make the final score 5-0. The West Plains JV record drops to 3-9 on the season.
