In sports, an ugly win trumps a pretty loss any day of the week.
On Monday evening, the Ozark Tigers won ugly. And they were the first to admit it.
“We didn’t have our best effort tonight,” said Ozark coach Tom Davidson, whose Tigers snuck past the Vikings 3-2 in double overtime. Lawson Spence’s game-winner in the 96th minute was the difference.
Ozark (2-1) outshot the Vikings 15-1 and held a 2-0 lead at halftime on the backs of goals from James Pottberg and Elliot McComas. The game felt over at the time, but Parkview didn’t oblige.
PHOTOS: PARKVIEW VS. OZARK
“We had a two goal lead and were kind of cruising,” Davidson said. “When Parkview got their first goal, all of the sudden, they were a different team.”
That goal came in the 53rd minute off the foot of Parkview’s Brody Johnson, whose looper brushed the fingertips of Ozark’s keeper before finding the back of the net.
Five minutes later, Johnson did it again.
“Every time (he) got loose, it seemed like he scored,” Davidson said.
This time, Johnson fired bullet from nearly the same spot on the field—just right of the 18—that equalized the score.
“I talked to him at halftime and told him I needed somebody to step up and be a leader,” Parkview coach Shelby Stewart. “In the second half, that’s what he did. He motivated his team and carried them on his back.”
Thanks to Johnson, the Vikings (2-4) looked like an entirely different team after halftime.
“I can’t fault our guys for their effort in the second half,” Stewart said. “I wish we would’ve put two of those halves together, because if we do that, that’s a great 80 minutes of soccer.”
Ozark had plenty of chances in the second half and in both overtime frames but struggled to finish on the doorstep.
“The whole point of it is to try to create choices, the second point is to bury them,” Davidson said. “We created a lot of chances, and that’s a positive.”
Ozark 2 0 0 1 3
Parkview 0 2 0 0 2
Goals
Ozark—8:10 Pottberg
Ozark—29:24 McComas
Parkview—52:25 Johnson
Parkview—57:39 Johnson
Ozark—95:07 Spence
