West Plains Zizzer Soccer

Today’s Varsity game against Lincoln College Prep has been cancelled.

Despite losing 3 out of the last 5 games (All to Class 3 schools), the West Plains Zizzers move up one spot to #6 in the latest Class 2 State Rankings from the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association. District 5 Opponent Cassville comes in at #7. Webb City and Bolivar also received votes. I would expect that Carthage will be making some noise in the next rankings as well. The District 5 Tournament is looking like it will be a very exciting one in just about 4 weeks. See the full list of Class 2 Rankings below:

Ranking Team Points
1 Priory 89
2 Westminster Christian 80
3 Cape Notre Dame 79
4 St. Dominic 63
5 Duchesne 55
6 West Plains 47
7 Cassville 29
8 St. Charles West 27
9 Hannibal 23
10 Smithville 20

Others: Webb City 14, Harrisonville 7, John F. Kennedy 5, St. Francis Borgia 3, Bolivar 2, Ladue 2, Moberly 2, O’Hara 2, Desoto 1

Thursday night the Zizzers took the field against the Nixa Eagles. West Plains took an early lead off a corner kick in the 9th minute. Brice Hunt’s corner kick into the 18 yard box was redirected by Josh Sims. Sims pass found Stuart Ziegler at the back post. Ziegler ripped a shot past Nixa Keeper Evan Wright for a 1-0 lead. Nixa would draw level in the 36th minute. After a failed clearance, the ball bounced around in the box and finally was corralled by Evan McCartney who fired a shot into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

In the second half, the Eagles came strong out and took the lead in the 44th minute. Evan MCartney picked up his second goal of the game when he headed in a corner kick from Guillermo Zuniga. 2-1 Eagles lead. In the 67th minute, Nixa was whistled for a handball in the box. Stuart Ziegler took the Penalty Kick for the Zizzers. His initial shot was saved by Nixa Keeper Evan Wright, but Ziegler knocked in the rebound to draw the Zizzers level at 2-2.

In the 30th minute, Ziegler crossed a ball from the right side, through the 18 yard box to Chris Saner. Saner sent a ball to the near post where Nathan Moore redirected it past the Nixa Keeper for a 3-2 Zizzer lead. Despite some fast and furious play from both sides, that is how the game would end. With the win, West Plains improves to 9-5 on the season. Up next will be a home match on Saturday against Lincoln College Prep of Kansas City. There will only be a Varsity match that day.

In JV action, Nixa scored 1 goal in each half to knock off the Zizzers 2-0. Anthony Holt made a couple of nice saves to keep things close. At times West Plains was able to move the ball, but just aren’t getting the scoring chances. Next up for the JV will be a game against Parkview at home on Tuesday, followed by a Varsity game against Parkview. The Zizzers record falls to 0-6 on the season.

The weather held pretty well, except a brief downpour before the JV game. The Zizzer defense held up well for 40 minutes yielding only 1 first half goal, tha coming in the 24th minute on a well placed shot by Devon Newport. Offensively, the Zizzers weren’t as aggressive as they normally are a weren’t able to generate dangerous scoring chacnes.

In the second minute of the second half, Falcon Justin Rogers ripped a shot to the near post side that gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead and deflated the Zizzers hopes. The Falcons added a third goal a high ball was played into the box. A misplay by the Zizzer back and goalkeeper allowed the ball to bounce. The ball went up and over the Zizzer Keeper into the goal for a 3-0 Zizzer lead. The Falcons then caught the Zizzers out of position and were able to send a player in alone on the Shane Corl. The shot found the backof the net for a 4-0 Falcon lead.

Justin Scicluna got one back for the Zizzers in the 22nd minute of the second half as his 20 yard shot went over the head of the Glendale Keeper and under the crossbar. The Falcons would add another goal late on a hard shot from the left hand side of the box for the final score of 5-1. The Zizzers had a couple of good chances in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Falcons lead. Glendale is a very deep and talented team and seemed to wear the Zizzers out as the game went along. The loss drops the Zizzers record to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in the Ozark Conference. Up next is a home game on Thursday against Nixa.

In JV action, Glendale scored first half goals and then added 5 more in the first 11 minutes of the second half to end the game with 24 minutes remaining on the clock. The Zizzers spent most of their time defending and Jason McAllister made several saves in goal the first half. The Zizzers will face Nixa at home on Thursday.

The Ozark Tigers came to town onThursday night. This was the first meeting between the two teams since around 1997. The Zizzers got on the board early as Stuart Ziegler scored on a Penalty Kick in the 7th minute. The Zizzers continued to attack and added a second goal in the 30th minute. Chris Saner broke in on the left side and fired a shot. Ozark Keeper Jason Taylor made the save. The rebound bounced out in front and Saner hustled after it and put the shot in the net for a 2-0 lead. Just thre minutes later, Justin Scicluna would score on a Penalty Kick to give the Zizzers a 3-0 lead.

The Tigers came out strong in the second half. In the 56th minute Gabe Axtell slid a shot past Zizzer Keeper Shane Corl to cut the lead to 3-1. The Tigers had a few other chances to cut into the lead, but couldn’t find the net. The Zizzers played strong and fought hard even after going down a man in the 66th minute as Josh Sims was sent off for a second Yellow Card. Shane Corl (Pictured against Rolla) turned in a nice performance in goal to record the win.

Overall, the boys played well, moving the ball and creating good scoring chances. Defensively they were challenged by the strong, quick Ozark attack. This was a good performance against a good quality opponent. With the win, the Zizzers improve to 8-4 on the season, while Ozark falls to 7-2. Up next for the Zizzers is an Ozark Conference match at Glendale on Tuesday.

In JV action, the Tigers came out on top 3-0. The Zizzers played well at times, especially in the first half. West Plains was able to move the ball at times and create some chances, while playing well defensively. Ozark scored one goal in the first half and two goals in the second half. The Zizzers JV record falls to 0-4 on the season.

(Pictured: Sophomore Back, Klay Norman vs Parkview - Photo by Randy Hunt)

The Rolla Bulldogs came to town on Tuesday for an Ozark Conference soccer match. The Zizzers had one of their better defensive efforts on the season while not allowing any goals through the run of play. Set pieces were another story. Rolla scored 3 Goals off of set plays, 2 off of Corner Kicks and 1 on a Penalty Kick.

The first Rolla goal came in the 9th minute of the game. Andrew Chism’s corner kick was headed in by Senior Back, Adam Daily. for a 1-0 Bulldogs lead. Rolla would score again on a corner kick in the 27th minute. This time Chism’s kick was headed in by Hishem Belarbi. 2-0 Bulldogs. Rolla would add a third goal just two minutes later. Senior Chamal Samaranayke would fire home a Penalty Kick after Zizzer Back Mike Moore was whistled for a foul in the box. 3-0 Bulldogs. That’s how the first half would end.

In the second half, the Zizzers continued to play well defensively and made a little adjustment on corner kicks. In the 46th minute, Justin Scicluna received a Penalty Kick after being tripped up in the box. Scicluna scored on the PK, cutting Rolla’s lead to 3-1. In the 53rd minute, Rolla had a chance to go up 4-1, but Shane Corl saved a Penalty Kick by Tyler Sinnott. Just about a minute later Scicluna cut the Bulldogs lead to one. Brice Hunt’s corner kick was taken out of the air by Scicluna, who fired a 15 yarder into the net. 3-2 Bulldogs. After that, the Zizzers kept pushing forward trying to get the tieing goal. David Milss nearly had one after getting two shots knocked away near the goalline. The Zizzers had a couple of other good chacnes, but couldn’t get the equaliser. Overall, the Zizzers had one of their better efforts on the season and against a quality opponent. The loss drops the Zizzers record to 7-4 and 2-2 in the Ozark Conference. Rolla improves to 6-3 and 3-0 in the Ozark Conference.

In JV action, Rolla defeated the Zizzers 10-0. The game ending as Rolla got their 10th goal with about 2:30 to play. The Zizzer JV played a good first half and found themselves down 3-0. The half was an improvement over their last game. The second half saw Rolla find more openings in the Zizzer defense that they were able to convert into goals.

Up next for the Zizzers are games at home Thursday versus the Ozark Tigers.

Varsity will play first tomorrow against Rolla. The game will kickoff at 4:30pm.

(Photo courtesy of Steve “Ole” Olson of SGFsoccer.com)

Former Zizzer standout Nick Dryden scored his first collegiate goal on Friday Night. The Missouri State Sophomore Center Back (Pictured in an earlier game against Western Illinois), scored on a header off a free kick for the only goal in the Bears 2-1 loss to Oral Roberts From the Missouri State Bears Website:

Sophomore defender Nick Drydens header in the box following a free kick with 38:14 left in the second half was the lone MSU goal. Assisting on the play was junior forward Henry Lawrence, III.

Dryden now has 3 Points on the season which ties him for third on the team. The Bears are 2-2-1 on the season heading into today’s game against Tulsa at 2:35pm.

Saturday morning started off well for the Zizzers as they took on the Neosho Wildcats in the Semifinals of the Parkview Showdown. Playing on the turf at JFK Stadium, The Zizzers got off to a fast start. In the third minute of Play, Justin Scicluna broke in and took a shot that hit the far post and bounced out. Brice Hunt came crashing in and put the rebound in for a 1-0 lead. The score would remain that way until the 26th minute. This time Brandon Wood got the ball in the middle of the field and fed a pass to Scicluna. Scicluna turned and fired a shot into the far upper corner. 2-0 Zizzers. Neosho’s best scoring chance came on a 20 yard shot from Edgar Becerra that bounced off the top of the crossbar. The score would remain 2-0 at halftime.

In the fifth minute of the second half. Scicluna added an unassisted goal to increase the Zizzer lead to 3-0. Two minutes later, Scicluna would pick up his fourth Yellow Card of the season which would cause him to miss the Zizzers’ match against Parkview later in the day. In the 28th minute, Stuart Ziegler, who missed the first half of the game while taking the ACT Test, ran 50 yards with the ball and slid one past the Neosho Keeper to finish the scoring. 4-0 Zizzers. Chris Saner posted the shutout in goal. The Zizzer record improved to 7-2 on the season and the Zizzers would face Parkview for the tournament championship.

In the Parkview game, the Vikings came out strong and the Zizzers held defensively and managed a few good scoring chances on the counterattack. On one counter, Stuart Ziegler broke in on the right side and fired a shot off the inside of the far post that bounced out and was grabbed by the Vikings Keeper. A few moments later, in the tenth minute, Ziegler took and pass from Chris Saner and fired another shot off the post, but this time it bounced in the goal for a 1-0 Zizzers lead. In the 21st minute Parkview tied it up on a 25 yard shot from Matt Medley. One minute later, a Viking cross found Tim Griffin alone at the back post where he headed it in for a 2-1 Parkview lead. A failed clearance in the 35th minute, led to a third Parkview goal before halftime.

In the second half, Parkview continued to have the better of play. Griffin added another goal in the 4th minute after dribbling through a crowd a Zizzer players and ending up alone on Zizzer Keeper Shane Corl. 4-1 Vikings. Parkview’s final goal came on a 20 yard shot in the 12th minute. The Zizzers were able to produce some scoring chances in the second half, but could finish them off as they never really found their rhythm. With the loss, West Plains finishes in 2nd Place in the tournament and their record falls to 7-3 on the season. Up next for the Zizzers, an Ozark Conference mat with the Rolla Bulldogs at home on Tuesday.

In a rematch of the 2006 Class 2 State 3rd Place Game, the West Plains Zizzers squared off against the Hannibal Pirates in the First Round of the Parkview Showdown on Friday. The teams are getting to know each other quite well after facing each other twice over the summer at Missouri State Soccer School Team Camp in July.

The match proved to be a very entertaining one. The Pirates came out controlling possession early. After the first ten minutes or so, the Zizzers settled into the game and it was end to end action. Both teams were able to create opportunities, but the first half ended in a scoreless tie. The Zizzers can thank Keeper Shane Corl (Pictured against Poplar Bluff). Corl made a couple of good saves and a couple more nice plays to come out grab balls before a shot could be taken.

In the 60th minute, a ball (I think off a Corl punt) bounced just across the midfield line and over the Hannibal defender’s head. Zizzer Senior, Justin Scicluna scooped up the ball beat a defender and put a shot past Hannibal’s Keeper for a 1-0 lead. Both teams continued to create chacnes, but that would be the only tally on the night. The win improves the Zizzers record to 6-2 on the season.

In other First Round action, Parkview defeated Lebanon 4-0, Carthage defeated Fulton 3-0 and Neosho was leading Kearney 4-1 in the second half.

Saturday’s games:
9:00am - Lebanon vs Fulton and Hannibal vs Kearney/Neosho Loser
11:00am - Parkview vs Carthage and West Plains vs Neosho/Kearney Winner

1:00pm - 7th Place and 5th Place Games
3:00pm - 3rd Place Game
5:00pm - Championship Game