All it took was one goal and the floodgates opened.
After being held scoreless for the first 60 minutes, the Ozark Tigers erupted for three goals in the final 20 on Tuesday night in a 3-1 win against rival Nixa at Ozark High School.
The win keeps the Tigers undefeated (14-2, 5-0 Central Ozark Conference) in league play.
“We caught a break with that first goal,” Ozark coach Tom Davidson said. “It wasn’t a great shot, and it just finds the back of the net. Sometimes, you need that to get you going a little bit.”
The goal—an awkward bender off the foot of Cassie Hinkley—soared over Nixa keeper Hannah Todd and into the top-right corner of the net. It changed the course of the match. Nixa had dominated the first 60 minutes, but with Hinkley’s equalizer, suddenly were no better on the scoreboard than Ozarfk.
“When you get that equalizer, sometimes, you can breathe a sigh of relief and then play the way you want to play,” Davidson said. “I think you saw what our team really looks like in the last 20 minutes.”
What they looked like was relentless. The Tigers—after struggling to create opportunities the first three-quarters of the game—peppered the keeper at the finish. Mikayla Putt put her team in front in the 68th minute. And then, with less than two minutes to play, Shannon Murphy put the game away, walking the ball in off the post.
“Coach D gave us a little pat on the back at halftime and was like, ‘you need to get with it,” Putt said, “so we just came together as a team and played, not as individuals, but as a team in the second half.”
Nixa (9-5, 2-1 COC) dominated from the opening kick and took an early lead in the eighth minute when Alex Johnson, off a give and go from Maycie Palmer, struck the net from 15 yards out on the left side. The Eagles had another chance in the 33rd, when Bailey Hunsicker’s bender banged off the post to teammate Sammi Hargis’, whose rebound also missed. Four minutes later, Hunsicker beat her opponent and crossed over the last defender but lost her footing at the goalmouth, causing her shot to slice wide.
“We were almost lucky to be down 1-0,” Davidson said. “They had a couple good opportunities … but I felt like we kind of weathered the storm.”
Ozark’s Jordan Easley nearly equalized midway through the first half, but her breakaway attempt also scooted wide. Maya Davidson belted a shot off the cross bar in the 53rd and, for a moment, the ball appeared like it might go in anyway, but Todd quickly smothered it before it broke the goal-line, keeping the score 1-0. It wasn’t until Hinkley’s unlikely goal that Ozark got on the board.
“In a lot of ways, this team needed this,” Davidson said. “We’ve been playing in so many games that are 8-0 or 10-0. We hadn’t been in those tight games where we needed to bring the intensity. We finally saw it tonight. I’m so pleased with them.”
Nixa 1 0 1
Ozark 0 3 3
Goals
Nixa—7:48: Alex Johnson
Ozark—61:15: Cassie Hinkley
Ozark—68:09: Mikayla Putt
Ozark—78:33: Shannon Murphy
