Depth is very important in Spring sports because of all the different activities that take place. For the second night in a row, the Lady Zizzer Soccer Team was without several key players. One player has been out with an injury, four are gone on a choir trip to Tennessee, and tonight a sixth player was missing because of a red card suspension from last night. That meant some players were going to have to step up and play some important minutes, and they played pretty well.
The Lady Zizzers came out playing hard, but it was Liberty who would see the first good scoring chance as Shelly Renegar broke down the right side and sent the ball across the front of the goal. The Lady Eagles weren’t able to get to the ball and it rolled out of play. That would be the only scoring chance of the half for Liberty. West Plains was able to control a lot of the play and created some scoring chances. Bad touches, lack of communication and good goalkeeping kept West Plains off the board. The score would be 0-0 at the half.
In the second half, the Lady Zizzers passing and movement improved and they were able to create a nuber of chances. Unfortunately, a lot of the shots went wide of the goal. In the 11th minute of the half, Katie Shannon took a ball near midfield and dribbled toward the goal. Shannon shot from near the edge of the 18 yard box as the keeper came out to cut down the angle. The ball found the back of the net, giving West Plains a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Liberty was awarded a free kick from about 35 yards out. Emily Vines sent a long shot that looked like it might tie the game. As the ball was about to drop under the crossbar, Keeper Sammi Phegley, jumped up and grabbed it to preserve the 1-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute of the half, West Plains was called for a handball in the box, giving Liberty a Penalty Kick. Shelly Renegar stepped up to take the kick and placed her shot into the corner of the goal to tie the score at 1-1. West Plains continued to work hard offensively, just missing on some scoring chances. Defensively, the Lady Zizzers did a pretty good job of limiting Liberty’s chances, even after Renegar pushed forward. The hard work on both ends finally paid off in the 39th minute of the half. Ashley harris got a ball on the left side. Harris battled with a Liberty defender before finally getting past her. After cutting in toward the goal, the goalkeeper started coming out and Harris sent a nice low cross to a wide open Dani Valade in front of the goal. Valade took a touch and knocked the ball into the goal to give West Plains a 2-1 lead. That’s how it would end up.
Emily Williams and Kimmie Callahan, playing in just their third Varsity game did a nice job, along with Megan Lowe, Brittany Mills, and Micah Adcock who have seen limmited Varsity action as well. All the girls played hard. They never got down working hard start to finish. Nice job ladies! Next up for the JV and Varsity will be games at Marshfield on Monday. The JV game is scheduled to begin at 5:00pm with the Varsity to follow.