On a cool Thursday evening, the Nixa Eagles came to town and took two games from the Lady Zizzers. In Varsity action, Nixa defeated West Plains 8-0. Despite the score, the Lady Zizzers performance was much improved over the previous night. West Plains came out playing much more aggressively tonight, challenging more balls and getting more physical.
A very dangerous Nixa team started the game out strong using their speed and good passing to put pressure on the West Plains defense. The Lady Zizzers fought hard and managed to keep the Lady Eagles off the scoreboard until the 20th minute. Rachel Murphy received a pass from Vicki Rische near the edge of the six yard box, turned and fired a shot. Lady Zizzer Keeper Halley Watson initially appeared to stop the shot, but the balls momentum carried it over the goalline for a 1-0 Nixa lead. Just about a minute later, Nixa would strike again. This time Courtney Frerichs found a wide open Jo Pavlowsky who fired a shot past Watson for a 2-0 lead. That would be all of the scoring in the first half. West Plains moved the ball, but only had one or two dangerous chances. The best chance came on a ball played up top for Natasha Ugbah who ran onto the ball and fired a shot that was stopped by Nixa Keeper Kristin Miller.
In the second half, the Lady Zizzers started wear down a bit as the fast paced Lady Eagles attack continued. Courtney Frerichs would find the back of the net in the third minute of the half. Then Nixa would score three goals in a span of four minutes as the Lady Zizzers weren’t able to maintain good pressure on the ball. Rachel Murphy netted her second of the game in the 12th minute, Kelsey Bartell scored in the 14th minute, and Vicki Rische scored in the 16th minute of the half. Nixa would add two more goals, Ashlyn Robillard in the 20th minute and Tatum Mangum on an assist by Kelsey Haist in the 30th minute of the half. The Lady Zizzers continued to fight, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard.
The effort in the game was much improved over the game Wednesday. The girls did a better job communicating, seeing the field, and playing aggressively. We are looking to get better each time out. Today was a step in the right direction.
In JV action, Nixa came out on top 6-0. Nixa scored their first goal in the 10th minute of the game on a shot to the far post. From their the Lady Zizzer defense held them off until the 27th minute. West Plains was whistled for a handball in the 18 yard box that resulted in a penalty kick for Nixa. The Lady Eagles converted the PK for a 2-0 lead. They would add a third goal just seconds before time ran out in the first half for a 3-0 halftime lead.
While the Lady Zizzers worked hard, they got caught ball watching too much, which resulted in some good scoring chances for Nixa. In the 11th minute of the second half, Nixa added a fourth goal. A few minutes later they would make the score 5-0. The final tally would come in the 22nd minute of the half when a high bouncing ball got over the head of Lady Zizzer keeper Micah Adcock.
Up next for the Lady Zizzers will be home games against Poplar Bluff on Tuesday. The JV game will begin at 4:30pm with the Varsity game to follow.
