The West Plains Zizzers varsity soccer team celebrated its seniors in style on Tuesday, capping an eventful stretch of games with a dominant 4-0 shutout victory over the Marshfield Blue Jays at Zizzer Stadium. The win was the team’s fourth in its last five matches.
“We are playing some of our best soccer as a team late into the season when it matters most," said Head Coach Jimmy Miller.
"We started slow in the first half," Miller said, "but we did control the pace of the game and possessed the ball really well.” He praised the team’s “precise and deliberate passing,” particularly in the back line.
West Plains' first goal came in the first half when Malakai Coy sent a pass through Marshfield's defense to Caleb Cobb for the finish.
"We made some adjustments at halftime and came out of halftime focused and with a mindset of 'taking what the opponent was giving us' rather than trying to force things that weren't working,” Miller explained.
The Zizzers’ defense dominated their back half of the field in the second half,” with team possession and ball movement being very crisp and effective," said Miller, and the offense scored three more goals. Coy scored on a rebound, LJ Temple played a long ball to a streaking Hudson Cox for a goal, and Johnny Sutherland chipped a pass upfield to Cameron Miller, who beat the defense for the final score with nine seconds left to play.
"Our defense and goalkeeper Keenan Holloway recorded their fifth shutout on the season and have improved a lot,” said Miller. “They have been a strength for us as of late.”
The Zizzers varsity earned a historic 3-0 shutout victory over Waynesville on Oct. 2, marking only their second win against the Tigers in 17 years. Goals were scored by Cox, Coy and Temple. Cox also made two assists, and C. Miller made one.
West Plains played Rolla Oct. 6 at home on the grass field, where the varsity Zizzers won 3-1 and the junior varsity lost 4-0 in what Miller called “the best and most complete game of the season” to date. The win was only the third for West Plains over the Bulldogs in the last 18 years.
Goals were scored by Reed Cobb, Ian Hufstedler and Cox; Cox had one assists, as did Cole Talburt. Miller also praised the team’s defense of Talburt, Isaac Ayala, Brooks Cobb, Caleb Cobb and goalkeeper Keenan Holloway for their “supreme focus and connected team defense,” and noted they set up the offense for success.
Just 14 hours after the emotional win over Rolla, the Zizzers traveled to Branson, the varsity team falling 2-1 and JV falling 3-2 in a tough conference match.
West Plains scored first on a header by Cox off an assist from C. Miller and held the lead for most of the game, but fatigue played a factor as Branson scored twice in the final 10 minutes to secure the win.
"The back-to-back nights definitely played a factor, as fatigue and heavy legs seemed to creep in as we got later into the game,” said Miller. ”The guys gave great effort, played with heart and never quit, even through the fatigue and some adversity.”
In the JV game, after being down 3-0 at halftime, the Zizzers rallied with two second-half goals from Eric Rodriguez via a penalty kick and Landon Legler, assisted by Roman Martinez, but ultimately fell 3-2. Miller noted goalkeeper Hunter Lange played well, managing at least 10 saves.
"We just need to stay focused, disciplined and healthy these last four games of the season," Miller said, "and have some momentum going into districts, which begin Nov. 3 in Cape Girardeau.”
In the first of the regular season’s last four games, the Zizzers are scheduled to take on Springfield-Hillcrest 5 p.m. Tuesday at JFK Stadium in Springfield.
