(Photo Courtesy of Steve ‘Ole’ Olson of SGFsoccer.com)
The Zizzers traveled to Springfield on Wednesday to take on the Central Bulldogs. Central came out and put pressure on the Zizzer defense right away. West Plains created some chances of their own later in the half, but neither team could get on the scoreboard. In the second half, the Zizzers changed things around a little bit and were able to create some more scoring chances including a shot off the crossbar by Dylan York, but that would be as close to scoring as they would get. Central took the lead in the 21st minute of the second half as Miguel Guerreiro beat his defender down the right slide and then put a shot past Zizzer Keeper Anthony Holt for a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs would add to the lead in the 36th minute of the half. This time Brian McGarry shot from the left side got in between Holt and the near post to make it 2-0 Bulldogs. That is how the game would end, a 2-0 victory for the Bulldogs, the first time Central has beaten West Plains.
It was a well deserved win for Central as the Zizzers are trying to find some consistency to their play. A strong performance Tuesday night didn’t carry over to Wednesday. As we get deeper into the schedule, that consistency becomes even more important. Up next will be a tough weekend. The Zizzers battle Kearney at 5:30pm Friday at the Parkview Tournament. They will then play either Neosho or Hannibal on Saturday morning with a second game Saturday afternoon. After the Kearney game, the team will head over to Plaster Stadium and watch the MSU Bears and former Zizzer Nick Dryden as they take on Valparaiso.
For more on the West Plains vs Central game, check out SGFsoccer.com. And for more pictures by Steve Olson, click on the picture. Randy Hunt also has his pictures.
