Parker Crawford scored the first goal of the game in Tuesday night’s match against Ozark and later left to a polite round of applause.
Now, Nixa will experience what life is like without its speedy, game-changing forward.
Nixa hopes its upcoming new-look attack can resemble anything close to what it was against Ozark, as the Eagles buried the Tigers with a flurry of second-half goals for a 7-0 victory. Nixa has won nine straight matches against Ozark.
“Our boys did a nice job of getting the ball down (field), finding the open player, switching fields when we needed to,” said Nixa coach Evan Palmer. “In the second half, it was about attacking the goal and putting tough balls on frame. It was nice finishing, but it’s not going to be easy next time if we see Ozark in districts.”
After the game, Palmer announced that it was likely the final career high school game for Crawford, who will undergo foot surgery this Friday to fix a lingering bone issue.
Crawford, a senior, had the golden goal in Nixa’s 3-2 overtime win against Lee’s Summit in last season’s Class 4 state quarterfinals, which advanced the Eagles to state for the first time in program history. He had six goals and six assists for Nixa (6-2 overall) thus far in 2016.
His absence leaves a void – namely, speed and playmaking – in the Nixa lineup.
“Especially early on this year, (Crawford) comes out and other teams just aren’t ready for that speed and quickness. He can catch people,” Palmer said.
Several names emerged against Ozark to fill the new scoring duties, such as Jacob Romero and Andrew Koban, both of whom scored twice.
Koban capitalized on a misplayed ball by the Ozark goalkeeper in the first half, knocking it through to push Nixa’s lead to 2-0. In the second half, he struck a bouncing ball near the top of the 18’ for Nixa’s fourth goal of the match.
Koban was primarily a JV player last season but has provided solid depth to the varsity this year and figures to see even more minutes in Crawford’s absence.
“(The first goal), I just kind of went for it. Came in like the coaches taught me. Ozark had a miscommunication and I kept going, got a foot on it and put it in,” Koban said. “(The second goal), my shot’s getting better, I feel. I feel like my strong point is on volleys. That shot, it just kind of bounced off the defender’s leg and I took a swing at it and made it.”
Romero also scored twice, off of up-field feeds from Hunter Daniels and Kevin King. Romero now has seven goals and two assists on the season, with five of those goals coming in Nixa’s last two matches after he recorded a hat trick in a Sept. 13 win over Webb City.
The loss dropped Ozark to 4-4 overall. The Tigers have played only four matches over the past two weeks and that extra time off has hindered Ozark, said coach Tom Davidson.
“Right now, for us, it’s about effort. I just felt like we didn’t have any effort, for whatever reason,” Davidson said. “When we come over here (Nixa), we seem to struggle. I can’t figure it out. We have a lot of season left and hopefully I didn’t lose my team tonight. We’ll just keep working, try to get better.
“I don’t know how to explain (tonight), honestly. I just need to do a better job coaching. That team isn’t seven goals better than us, but they were tonight.”
Nixa 7, Ozark 0
Ozark 0 0 — 0
Nixa 2 5 — 7
First Half
Nixa – Parker Crawford
Nixa – Andrew Koban
Second Half
Nixa – Payton Wissig (PK)
Nixa – Koban (Mitchell Dent asssist)
Nixa – Jacob Romero (Hunter Daniels)
Nixa – Romero (Kevin King)
Nixa – Caleb Graham
