(Photo by Randy Hunt of R & R Photography)
The West Plains Lady Zizzers opened Ozark Conference play Monday with games against the Rolla Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs would get on the scoreboard in the 5th minute of action as Kaylyn Stoll sent a bll into the box from the left side and Olivia Cox headed it on goal. Lady Zizzer Goalkeeper Sammi Phegley got her hands on the ball, but couldn’t keep it out of the goal. That would be the only ball to get past Phegley on the evening.
Rolla had more of the possession during the game and had an 11-1 advantage in shots on goal, but the Lady Zizzers did well. Our backs (Ashley Martin, pictured above battling Olivia Cox, Kelly Smith, Suzee Tullos, Suzanne Hones, and Courtney Cox) are starting to play well together and our midfielders (Katie Shannon, Anela Auala, Carly Shannon, Bre Wright, Ashley Harris, and Micah Adcock) are getting in better starting positions defensively. When somebody gets beat or makes a mistake, somebody is there to help out. We are playing more as a team defensively and we aren’t chasing so much.
Offensively, the Lady Zizzers are passing a little better, but they need to do more work off the ball to get in more dangerous positions to receive the ball. We need to get forwards Tasha Ugbah, Megan Lowe, and Ashley Harris more involved to create good scoring chances. The Lady Zizzers most dangerous offensive chance came with less than 5 minutes to go as Katie Shannon played a great ball in behind the Rolla defense for Tasha Ugbah. Ugbah couldn’t quite corral it and sent her shot wide of the goal. Rolla won the game 1-0 to improve to 2-1 and 1-0 in Ozark Conference play. The Lady Zizzers drop to 1-3 and 0-1 in Ozark Conference play. Despite the loss, the Lady Zizzers are showing some improvement.
In JV action, Rolla defeated West Plains 6-0. In what was the first extended action for most of the Lady Zizzer JV team, the girls played pretty well for the first 15 minutes or so. As they started to get tired, little things became costly. Not getting in good starting positions defensively and lack of communication made it difficult to play together. Rolla scored goals in the 18th, 25th, and 29th minutes in the first half.
In the second half, West Plains played a little better and were able to move the ball some offensively. Fitness and focus were the issues late in the game. Rolla added goals in the 26th, 31st and 34th minutes of the second half. It was good for all the girls to finally get to play in a game. This is something that we can learn from and improve upon.
Next up for the Lady Zizzers are games at Poplar Bluff on Tuesday. JV kicks off at 4:30pm with Varsity to follow. The games will be played at Whiteley Park in Poplar Bluff.