On a crazy weather day, the West Plains Lady Zizzers traveled to Willard to take on the Marshfield Lady Jays in the First Round of Districts. The game started late because of weather delays during the Bolivar/Greenwood game and then that game went into Overtime. That didn’t stop the Lady Zizzers from picking up their first District Win since 2005 (Double Overtime Win against Lebanon). West Plains got things going early. In the third minute of play, Michelle Esterle brought the ball down the field. Esterle laid a pass off to Emma Ray who crossed the ball to the far post where Katie Shannon was waiting to knock it in for a 1-0 lead. Mollie Plocher would make it 2-0 in the 16th minute. Beth Kittle sent a long free kick over the head of the Marshfield defense. Plocher outran a Lady Jay defender to get the ball and put a shot past the onrushing Goalkeeper. Despite some other chances, the score would remain 2-0 at the half. Defensively the Lady Zizzers played fairly well and were able to help each other out when they did make a mistake.
The second half started a little slow. Then in the 5th minute, Michelle Esterle gave West Plains a 3-0 lead. Kalie Simpkins found Dani Valade with the ball. Valade crossed into the box for Esterle whose shot found the back of the net. Esterle would close out the scoring in the 16th minute. This time she was assisted by Audi Morrison and Katie Shannon. Despite some dangerous scoring chances for Marshfield, the Lady Zizzers were able to preserve the shutout.
In their best effort of the last couple of weeks, West Plains moved the ball well. The communication and teamwork were keys to the victory. With the win, West Plains improves to 7-15 on the season and advances to the District Semifinals. West Plains will face #2 Bolivar at 7:00pm on Monday Night at Willard. Bolivar defeated Greenwood 3-2 in Overtime. In other action, Catholic defeated Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty 18-0. (Liberty had advanced from the Play-In Game Friday with a 7-0 victory over Pleasant Hope – Liberty’s first ever win). Willard defeated McAuley 4-1. #1 Catholic will take on #4 Willard at 5:00pm Monday.
