The Lady Zizzers traveled to Camdenton Tuesday for an Ozark Conference matchup with the Lady Lakers. In the Varsity game, both teams came out strong and playing a physical game. Although Camdenton had more scoring chances, West Plains played pretty well. The girls are doing some good things. Camdenton scored their first goal in the 21st minute of the game. The goal came on a corner kick by Stephanie Kirvan. The kick was head toward the near post. Lady Zizzer Goalkeeper Sammi Phegley got her hands on the ball, but couldn’t keep it out of the net. Phegley smothered a few other Lady Laker shots, making some terrific saves. The halftime score would be 1-0.
We knew Camdenton would be fired up to start the half and the Lady Zizzers came out hard, but didn’t quite match the level of the Lady Lakers. Camdenton was able to capitalize, scoring two goals in the first five minutes. Three minutes into the half, Haley Baker sent a ball into the middle of the box that Latea LaRUe ran onto and redirected into the goal for a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later, Baker found Stephanie Kirvan for her second goal of the game. 3-0 Lady Lakers. The two quick goals put West Plains in a big hole. If we could have kept them from scoring in the first ten minutes of the second half, it would have been a different ballgame. We just didn’t match their intensity level at the start of the half. The Lady LAkers would add one more goal in the 71st minute. Kayla Utley put the ball in off an assist from Cassie Hale to make the Final score 4-0. There were definitely some positive moments in the game. The corner kick defense was much better than the previous night, the play of goalkeeper Sammi Phegley keeps improving, and we are starting to see the field a little better.
In the JV game, Camdenton came out on top by a score of 4-1. Camdenton went up 1-0 in the 26th minute and a beautifully placed shot to the far corner by Danielle Civey. The Lady Lakers would add another goal just before halftime to make it 2-0. West Plains played pretty well, moving the ball and creating some opportunities, but they weren’t able to finish them.
In the second half, Camdenton scored in the 5th minute to make it 3-0. West Plains got on the board in the 20th minute of the half. Mary Jones scored on a long run to cut the lead to 3-1. Jones was able to get a few shots, but was only able to find the net with one of them. Camdenton scored their final goal with about 10 minutes left in the game. Overall it was a good showing for the Lady Zizzers.
Up next will be the 6th Annual Lady Zizzer Soccer Classic to be held in West Plains on Friday and Saturday. Games begin at 4:00pm Friday and at 8:30am on Saturday. The tournament will feature the West Plains Lady Zizzers and 9 other schools from Missouri and Arkansas. At halftime of the Lady Zizzers game against Affton on Friday night, we will honor the Zizzer Soccer Wall of Honor Class of 2009. Come out and join us.