The West Plains Lady Zizzer Soccer Team is looking for some consistency in their performances and they haven’t found it yet. A strong first half last Thursday against Nixa, broke down in the second half when the team gave up six goals. Tonight things were reversed. In the first half, West Plains played slow and timid as Poplar Bluff was able to score goals off a free kick, a corner kick and through the run of play.
The first goal came in the 3rd minute of the game when Julia Ward’s pass found a wide open Miranda Burroughs racing into the box. Burroughs sent a one-timer into the net for what would prove to be the game-winning goal. Two minutes later, Burroughs set up Allie Patillo to make the score 2-0. In the 8th minute. Ward scored on assists by Marissa Burroughs and Allie Thomas. Ward scored again in the 16th minute after a scramble for a loose ball on an indirect free kick that was awarded for a pass back to the goalkeeper. Patillo scored the final goal of the half in the 27th minute, assisted by Miranda Burroughs. The Lady Zizzers started to play a little better defensively near the end of the half, but the damage had been done. A slow start put the team in big whole.
The second half was a different story, it looked like a totally different team. The Lady Zizzers came out strong, playing much more aggressively and winning a number of balls out of the air. The effort was much better the second half, offensively and defensively. Poplar Bluff scored in the 10th minute of the half. Some miscommunication between the goalkeeper and midfielder allowed Andi Lampe to run onto a ball and put a shot into the open net to make the score 6-0. That goal can be attributed to a lack of playing experience which will correct itself over time. The only other goal of the half came in the 23rd minute as Jenni Hubbard beat a Lady Zizzer defender and fired an open shot from near the top of the 18 yard box into the back of the net.
West Plains played with more confidence in the second half. As the half wore on, that confidence seemed to grow even more. As it did, the girls started moving the ball better down the field. The girls were trying to do things right. As a result, they were able to create some scoring chances. The best chance came as Natasha Ugbah carried a ball toward goal and crossed a ball to Beth Kittle who made a nice run from her midfield position to receive the ball inside the eighteen yard box. Kittle took a shot, but couldn’t get enough on it to put it past the Poplar bluff Keeper. The final score was 7-0 in favor of Poplar Bluff. The Lady Zizzers will continue their search for a consistent effort and victory number one as they travel to Springfield Thursday to take on the Greenwood Bluejays at Cooper Soccer Complex at 5:00pm.
In JV action, West Plains showed a marked improvement over their first game against Nixa last week. The Lady Zizzers played a much better team game both offensively and defensively. Shannon McGee scored the first goal of the game in the 9th minute. McGee ran down a long pass, touced the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper and put the ball into the open net to give the Lady Zizzers a 1-0 lead. The score would stay that way until the 20th minute of the second half, when the Mules would tie things up from close range. The game saw both teams with some scoring chances, but it looked like it would end in a tie.until the 34th minute of the second half. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Erika Becker fired a shot into the net to give Poplar Bluff a 2-1 victory. The girls showed much improvement from their first game and should be proud of their effort. The JV won’t play again until next Tuesday when both teams travel to Lebanon.

