I received an email this morning from Mountain Home Girls Soccer Coach Debbie Atkinson. She said they had some special things going on for today’s game and wanted to let us know about them. A 4th grade girl in the Mountain Home School District who is a big soccer fan is battling cancer. Her name is Janessa (I hope I spelled it correctly). She goes to Little Rock every 2 weeks for chemotherapy treatments. She wanted to see the Lady Bombers play. She is in between treatments and the weather was nice today, so everything was perfect.
Janessa was made an Honorary Lady Bomber Captain for the game, complete with her own Captain’s armband. The Lady Bombers also presented her with an autographed soccer ball. I told Debbie that since Janessa was a Captain for the game, she should call the coin toss. Janessa called it wrong and we lost the toss (I think she planned it that way), but showing Good Sportsmanship, Mountain Home deferred allowing West Plains to have choice of ball or choosing which half to defend. We also brought along our own gift for Janessa, a jersey signed by the Lady Zizzers. When the girls presented it to her, I told her that since she was from Mountain Home, that maybe we could be her favorite Missouri team. The picture above is Janessa and her Dad with the West Plains Lady Zizzers.
Janessa stayed and watched the game for awhile. She seemed to be kind of overwhelmed by all that went on. I think she was very touched by it all. I know I was. Girls you should be proud of what you were a part of tonight. It will mean more than the score of any game you play. The winner tonight was Janessa! We all wish her luck in her battle.
After all that, there was a game played. Unfortunately for the Lady Zizzers, Mountain Home came out on top. The Lady Bombers controlled the play through much of the half as West Plains struggled to get the ball to their teammates feet very often. The turf played fast and we were a step slow tonight. Mountain Home applied a lot of pressure, but the defense and goalkeeper Sammi Phegley kept them off the scoreboard until the 23rd minute. A long shot by Kirsten Peterson went over Phegley’s head and under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead. The Lady Zizzers finally managed a little offense in the waning minutes of the half, getting two good looks at goal, but firing wide both times.
The Lady Bombers would add to their lead in the 5th minute of the second half as (#7?) buried a shot from close range. West Plains started to play a little better, but in the 12th minute of the half, the Lady Zizzers were given a Red Card for what the referee called “serious foul play – a foul in an obvious goal scoring opportunity”. Because of the Red Card, West Plains was forced to play one player short (10 vs 11). It didn’t take long for Mountain Home to capitalize. Just three minutes later Nicole Bolt found the back of the net to make it 3-0 Lady Bombers. The final tally would come from Peterson in the 28th minute of the half. making the Final Score 4-0. After losing a player with the Red Card, the Lady Zizzers played with more intensity and created a few chances to score. The best chance in the second half came from Megan Lowe, whose shot went just wide of the post.
West Plains drops to 2-7-0 on the season. Next up is a trip to Mountain View on Friday to take on the Liberty Eagles. Game time is set for 4:30pm. There will be no JV game.