Fatigue?
A little, perhaps, but the Kickapoo Lady Chiefs didn’t seem too affected in Thursday’s marquee mid-season matchup versus Ozark.
Playing its eighth game in nine days – and ninth game since April 11 – Kickapoo got a game-winning goal from senior Hannah Sweaney in the 64th minute as it defeated Ozark, 2-1.
The result means Kickapoo locks up the No. 1 seed for next month’s Class 4, District 10 tournament, with the Ozark-Nixa winner awaiting Kickapoo should the Chiefs reach the title match.
It also means Kickapoo ends a busy stretch, which saw the Chiefs play four straight games from April 13-16 and four more consecutive games from April 18-21, with a win.
“We’ll play anybody, anytime, anywhere, with any official,” said Kickapoo coach Phil Hodge. “I’ve always said that. Tonight was no different, regardless of how many games in however many days it was. We’re going to rise to the challenge. I’m proud of our kids. They did.”
Locked in a tight second-half battle that saw few significant scoring chances, Kickapoo finally struck in the 64th minute.
KHS junior defender Madison Burton’s free kick near midfield deflected off an Ozark player, bouncing right over to Sweaney, who calmly touched it into the back of the net.
“We had a chance to hit it (out) and we kind of gave it to them,” said Ozark coach Tom Davidson. “(Kickapoo) was just opportunistic. They finished their chances when they got them.”
Ozark threatened repeatedly in the final 15 minutes, putting multiple shots on target, but the Kickapoo defense and goalkeeper Ari Acuff was able to preserve the win.
“I didn’t feel like (Kickapoo) put a bunch of pressure on our goal or anything, but they do a good job of getting behind the ball,” Davidson said. “(Kickapoo) has eight or nine kids always behind the ball and it makes it tough to score.”
Now 14-3-2 overall, Kickapoo’s allowed 11 goals all season – five of those coming in losses to Smith-Cotton and Kirkwood in the Kickapoo Shootout last weekend – and posted 11 shutouts.
“Defensively, we’re pretty solid,” Hodge said. “We switched even more defensive after we took the lead. We have another formation we like to go to in that situation; we went to that, so we kind of sat in a little bit.”
Kickapoo went up early in the match as sophomore Lily Simphaly-Ragsdale got a ball through the legs of Ozark goalkeeper Ally Barb in the 7th minute.
“That’s one of those balls (Barb) saves nine out of 10 times,” Davidson said. “She just didn’t save that one.”
With its offense struggling to maintain possession, Ozark moved Maya Davidson to the midfield spot during the final 20 minutes of the first half.
She scored the equalizer in the 32nd minute. Off a feed from Jadyn Easley, Davidson was alone at the top of the box and curled a ball into the upper right corner to bring Ozark even, 1-1.
“It felt like she was distributing the ball more and we were getting more midfield play,” said Tom Davidson. “At that point, we didn’t have any. Kickapoo had everything going in the midfield, and not that they were creating a bunch of chances, but they had more pressure on us.”
Ozark dropped to 12-2 overall with the loss. Both of the Tigers’ losses have come to teams that are ranked (Eureka, No. 2) or receiving votes (Kickapoo) in the Class 4 state poll.
“Kickapoo outplayed us tonight,” Tom Davidson said. “That’s the bottom line. You can say what you want about possession and the way the game went or whatever, but (Kickapoo) just outplayed us.
“We were obviously expecting to win, but we didn’t. Hopefully that will give us a kick in the pants.”
Ozark hosts Joplin on Friday night and plays Nixa at home on Tuesday, April 26.
Kickapoo will take the rest of the week off before returning to action April 25 at home against Catholic.
“I’m proud of our kids, they’ve just battled,” Hodge said. “We expect a lot of them, sometimes maybe too much. But I’m proud of them.”
