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.