West Plains Zizzer Soccer

Today’s game at Ozark have been cancelled due to the weather conditions. No make up date has been scheduled at this time

The Lady Zizzers made the short trek to Mountain View on Friday night to take on the Liberty Eagles. The game was the first ever for the Liberty Eagles girls soccer team. Emma Ray opened the scoring for the Lady Zizzers in the 6th minute. Ray intercepted a goal kick by the Eagles, got past the keeper, and fired a shot into the open net. 1-0 Lady Zizzers. In the 18th minute, Dani Valade sent a cross in front of the box. Rachel Skelly raced in and knocked it across the goalline for a 2-0 lead. Mollie Plocher’s free kick in the 28th minute found a streaking Beth Kittle at the back post. Kittle redirected the ball into the goal with her body. It was 3-0 Lady zizzers at the half.

After a sloppy first half, West Plains came out much stronger to start the 2nd half. In the 4th minute of the half, Emma Ray picked up a loose ball off a corner kick and blasted a shot under the crossbar from 18 yards out. 4-0 Lady Zizzers. A minute later, Michelle Esterle dribbled into the box and ripped a shot from about 12 yards out that found the back of the net. It was 5-0 Lady Zizzers at that point. Megan Lowe notched her first goal when she kicked in a loose ball from a couple of yards out in the 26th minute. Rachel Skelly picked up her 2nd goal of the game in the 32nd minute when she beat the keeper to a loose ball and poked it past her from about 8 yards out to finish the scoring. The final score was 7-0 Lady Zizzers.

In the first half West Plains didn’t play together as well as they could have and were forcing things offensively. In the second half, the girls made some better decisions. They were also more aggressive going to the ball, especially in the air. It was nice to get that first win of the season and the girls had some fun as all 20 girls that made the trip saw some action.

With the win, the Lady Zizzers improve to 1-2-0 on the season. The next game is scheduled for 4:30pm at Ozark on Monday, March 31.

Stuart Ziegler has chosen to continue his soccer career at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, MO (Rumor has it that another Zizzer may be joining him - I’ll have to confirm that). Stuart was kind enough to answera few questions about the recruiting process and his decision.

How do you feel now that you have decided where you will be attending college?

It is like the greatest relief I’ve ever experienced. It has been a very stressful Senior year up until now.

Was it an easy decision for you?

It was an easy decision once I found out that I will be on a full ride (Editorial Note: athletic and academic scholarships combined will amount to a full ride for Stuart). It was not my favorite school, but I did enjoy the atmosphere. i am very confident that I made the right choice.

What was the biggest factor in your decision to attend Missouri Southern?

I would have to say the money. Other schools I was looking at cost at least $7000 a year. Also, they have one of the best nursing and study abroad programs in Missouri.

What do you plan to major in?

I plan to acquire a double major in Business and Science of Nursing.

What do you know about those departments at Missouri Southern?

I don’t know much about the business department. the Nursing Program is a very respected program. It takes hard work and dedication to get through. It is an accomplishment to be accepted into the Nursing Program.

Anything you can tell us about Missouri Southern - The school ingeneral or the Soccer Program?

They have the nicest dorms out of the ten schools I visited. The classes are small, so it provides opportunities for relationships between students and teachers. Joplin is a great town. It is in the middle of Springfield, Tulsa, Fayetteville, Kansas City. This year’s recruiting class is one of the best Coach Cirillo has ever brought in.

What thoughts do you have about the recruiting process - Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

The whole time my Mom was pushing me to contact coaches and get my name “out there”. The hundreds of hours I spent preparing for college drove me up the walls. It definitely paid off in the end. If you want to play college soccer, start this process in your Junior season. I want to thank my Mom, Coach Schmitt, and Jeremy Alumbaugh for their help in this process.

The Harrison Lady Goblins came to town on Thursday for a game that was rescheduled from last Tuesday due to rain. The Lady Zizzers played much better defensively in this game, something that was the focus of Wednesday’s practice. Positioning and playing as a unit was an improvement. After a scoreless first half. Harrison scored the game’s only goal in the 5th minute of the second half. Callie Jones was able to fight off Lady Zizzer sweeper, Cara Trautman, and fired a shot on goal. The shot caught West Plains goalkeeper, Jamie Brassfield, off balance and gave the Lady Goblins a 1-0 lead. West Plains was able to create a couple of scoring opportunities, but couldn’t make anything out of them. Harrison’s defense was able to shtdown the Zizzer offense and took the victory.

Zizzer Senior soccer player Stuart Ziegler has decided to continue his playing career close to home. Ziegler signed his National Letter of Intent today to attend Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. After considering a number of schools from different parts of the country, Ziegler chose to become a Lion.

Ziegler who led the Zizzers in Goals (25), Assists (17), and Points (67) in 2007, helped lead the Zizzers to a 60-38-4 record during his 4 year career including a District Championship and 3rd Place finish in the State in 2006.

Ziegler is the Zizzer Career leader in Goals (60), Assists (32), Points (152), Hattricks (7) and is second all-time in Games Played (101) and Game Winning Goals (13). He also holds records for Goals in a Season (25), Goals in a Game (Tie-4), Games Played in a Season (Tie-28), Hattricks in a Season (Tie-4), Assists in a Season (17), Assists in a Game (5), Points in a Season (67), and Points in a Game (11).

As a Freshman, Stuart was named Academic All-Ozark Conference Honorable Mention. His Sophomore year Stuart was named Second Team Parview Viking Showdown All-Tournament Team, Academic All-Ozark Conference Honorable Mention, All-Ozark Conference Honorable Mention, and Class 3 District 11 Second Team All-District. As a Junior, Ziegler was named 2nd Team All-Ozark Conference, Class 2 District 5 First Team All-District, MSHSSCA Class 2 All-Region, Springfield Newsleader All-Ozarks Second Team, and MSHSSCA First Team All-State. During his Senior year, Stuart was named Parkview Viking Showdown All-Tournament Team, Academic All-Ozark Conference, First Team All-Ozark Conference, Class 2 District 5 First Team All-District, MSHSSCA Class 2 All-Region, Springfield Newsleader All-Ozarks First Team, MSHSSCA Class 2 First Team All-State, Southwest Senior All-Star Game.

Missouri Southern State University is an NCAA Division II school located in Joplin, MO. The Lions compete in the very competitive Southwest Soccer Conference.

I’ll have more from Stuart later.

The Lady Zizzer soccer team traveled to Poplar Bluff to finally open the season on Tuesday. The Lady Mules prevailed 5-1, but there were a lot of positives for West Plains. Playing on field that was under an foot and a half of water a week ago (You wouldn’t have known it to look at it), the ball movement was a highlight for West Plains in the first half. Michelle Eseterle opened the scoring with about 2 minutes to go in the first half. The goal came on a header off a corner kick by Mollie Plocher. The Lady Zizzers lead didn’t last long. Poplar Bluff struck back about a minute later. The Lady Mules player beat 2 defenders and broke in on Lady Zizzer Keeper Jamie Brassfield and fired a shot past her to tie the score.

In the second half, Poplar Bluff appeared to be the fresher team. They scored the eventual game winner in the 14th minute of the half. The Lady Mules would add 3 more goal in the half to reach the final score of 5-1. The game gave us an opportunity to look at people in some new positions. The ball movement, especially in the first half was good. Overall it wasn’t a bad game for the first of the season. The Lady Zizzers record is 0-1 for the season.

In JV action, Poplar Bluff defeated West Plains 9-0. A very inexperienced Lady Zizzer team showed flashes of good things. Ultimately breakdowns defensively were the teams undoing. Poplar Bluff scored 6 Goals in the first half and added 3 Goals in the second half. The Lady Zizzer JV record is now 0-1 on the season.

The Next game will be Thursday at Home against Harrison, AR. at 4:30pm. There will only be a Varsity game that night. The Varsity will travel to Mountain View on Friday to take on Liberty High School at 5:00pm at the Football Field. The next game for the JV will be Monday March 31 when the JV and Varsity travel to Ozark.

I got a message from Matt Saner last night. He told me he would be signing his letter of intent today (Monday) to continue his soccer career at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, IA. Saner, a 2006 West Plains High School graduate, will join another former Zizzer, Jacob Plocher, at William Penn.

Saner joins the Statesmen after spending the past two seasons as a member of the Neosho County Community College Panthers Soccer Team. During his two seasons at Neosho County, Saner helped the Panthers achieve great success. In the 2006 season, Neosho County finished 15-5-1 and were the KJCCC Conference Champions and Regular Season Region VI Champions. In 2007, the Panthers finished 15-6-1 and were the Region VI Tournament Runner Up while finishing #15 in the Final NSCAA/Adidas National Rankings.

As a Zizzer, Matt earned Class 3 District 11 Honorable Mention All-District as a Junior in 2004, Class 3 District 11 2nd Team All-District and Southwest Missouri Senior All-Star Game Selection as a Senior in 2005.

Congrats Matt!

The games against Mountain View will be Varsity only. Mountain View does not have enough players for a JV team.

The games scheduled at Nixa on Thursday March 20 have been cancelled. No makeup date has been annouced at this time. There will be no practice Thursday or Friday. Practice will resume Monday. The first game will be Tuesday March 25 at Poplar Bluff.

There will be no girls soccer practice on Wednesday or Friday this week. If our scheduled game on Thursday at Nixa would be cancelled - we wouldn’t practice Thursday either. We will keep you posted.