Waynesville slips by Zizzers soccer team in tight contest

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, October 21, 2026

By John Deatherage/For the Quill

West Plains' Hudson Cox works the ball on Thursday as the Zizzers took on Waynesville at Zizzer Stadium. Cox scored a goal and was credited with an assist in the game, though the Tigers defeated West Plains 3-2. (John Deatherage/For the Quill)

The West Plains boys soccer team fell short in a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Waynesville Tigers on Thursday at Zizzer Stadium.

Cameron Miller and Hudson Cox each found the back of the net for West Plains.

“Cameron Miller scored first, with a precise and powerful top-bin, far-post one-touch finish into the back of the net, assisted by Hudson Cox,” West Plains Head Coach Jimmy Miller said.

The Tigers answered with two goals to take a 2-1 lead into halftime, then extended their advantage to 3-1 in the second half. Cox cut the deficit to one when his penalty kick was saved, but he followed up and buried the rebound.

“I thought our effort was good in this loss, and we had some great chances late in the second half to tie it up at 3-3, but their goalkeeper made some very tough saves on some of our on-target chances,” Miller said. “We played with some good urgency, but unfortunately going down 1-3 to a quality opponent is never a good position to be in, and I felt like other than a few unfortunate moments, we played good enough to win. In the end, we just ran out of time. We played hard and never gave up, even after going down 1-3 early in the second half.”

Oct. 13: West Plains 2, Marshfield 0

Earlier in the week, the Zizzers traveled to Marshfield and shut out the Blue Jays 2-0 on Oct. 13.

Isaac Ayala and Cox scored the goals, with assists credited to Gerson Anariba and Cordale Palmer. The Zizzers started the game slow, entering halftime locked in a 0-0 tie.

“We were forcing too many long balls while not scanning and connecting passes consistently enough,” Miller said of the first half. “We had a ton of scoring opportunities, but I felt like we were getting impatient and forcing some long shots or holding the ball too long inside their box, and not settling in and taking what they were giving us.”

After halftime, Miller noted the Zizzers settled in, played a much better second half and generated numerous scoring chances while maintaining control of the ball to seal the victory.

Up Next

The Zizzers (8-10) hosted Hillcrest (3-11) on Tuesday evening; because the game began after press time, results will be published in a future edition.

West Plains will next host Springfield Catholic at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Zizzer Stadium, followed by another home matchup against Carl Junction at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 29.

The Class 3 District 1 tournament will run from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5 in Hillsboro. The state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 14 through 21.