The weather was great for the soccer on Tuesday night as the Zizzers traveled to Waynesville for an Ozark Conference matchup. West Plains was at full strength again with everybody healthy and ready to play, but that would change quickly. The Zizzers came out playing hard as they continue making adjustments and getting comfortable with each other. Waynesville opened the scoring in the 12th minute as Eric Iverson sent a ball to a streaking Ben Moore, who found the back of the net with his shot. It would be the only goal of the first half although the Tigers headed one off the crossbar on a corner kick a little later. Shortly after the Waynesville goal, Klay Norman had to leave the game with a leg injury suffered in a collision. Later Seth Phegley took a bump on the head and missed the second half of play.
In the second half, the Zizzers played without two key starters, yet they continued working hard especially on the defensive end. With some players moving to new positions the Zizzers were able to keep the Tigers from adding to their lead until the 26th minute of the half. Brandon Kilthau hit Jeff Brayman in stride with a pass that caught the Zizzer defense flat and sent Brayman in alone on Goalkeeper Anthony Holt. Brayman shot past the keeper and into the goal for a 2-0 lead. Just two minutes later, Mark Ward found himself open 25 yards from goal and he buried a beautiful shot into the far corner of the goal to make it 3-0 Tigers. That would be all of the scoring in the game. West Plains showed an improved effort despite missing some key players for significant portions of the game.
In JV action, Waynesville defeated the Zizzers 7-0. In the first half, it was the Tigers who showed up ready to play. The result was 5 unanswered goals and a 5-0 halftime lead. West Plains stepped up their game in the second half and showed some improvement in their play. More hustle and better communication helped limit the Tigers to two second half goals.
Up next will be a Varsity Only match vs Central on Wednesday at Cooper Field #2 in Springfield. Kickoff is set for 5:00pm.
