By John Miller
Springfield, Mo. – They had chance after chance to put the game away, and finally, they did.
After playing catch with Parkview’s keeper for most of the night, the Central Bulldogs finally learned their lesson: kick it where she isn’t.
In the 66th minute, junior Danielle Barstead caught a through ball, paused, located the keeper, and snuck it past her into the back of the net, icing a 3-1 season-opening win for Central at Harrison Stadium.
“I picked my head up instead of just kicking it,” said Barstead, who scored two goals for the Bulldogs on Tuesday. “I took a breath and realized she wasn’t coming out on me, so I took a couple extra steps to get around her instead of just kicking it.”
Central (1-0) outshot Parkview 22 to 5. They had 16 shots on goal. Parkview had two. But despite their many one-on-one chances, Central never put the game away. Time after time, their shots went right to Parkview’s sophomore stopper Nevaeh Mitchell.
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“It was kind of frustrating,” Barstead said, “but we have to pick our head up before we shoot. A lot of times, we were just so focused on scoring instead of (aiming where to shoot) that we were just kicking it and it went right to the keeper.”
Central got on the board first, using a 30-yard strike from freshman defender Kourtney Tucker to take the lead in the 10th minute. Five minutes before halftime, Barstead doubled the lead, sneaking the ball into the right corner of the net.
Out of intermission, Parkview (0-1) answered. Freshman Aisha Ramadhan collected a pass from sophomore Kickapoo transfer Ashlee Nash and deposited it into the left side of the net. Despite being outshot by Central, the Vikings found themselves down just a goal.
With the game hanging in the balance, there was never any wavering on the Central sideline.
“Even when they scored that goal, we kept our head up and we didn’t give up,” Barstead said. “We kept fighting and picked each other up instead of getting down on ourselves.”
After several more golden chances to score were sent right at Mitchell, Barstead finished the game with her goal late in the second half.
The win should serve as a confidence booster to a young Central team that includes 10 freshmen and six sophomores.
“We have five or six girls that came in, all from pretty much the same club team, so they’re all used to each other,” Central coach Chris Welch said. “Our upperclassmen know those kids and have played with them, so there has been automatic (chemistry).”
Added Barstead: “We have a lot of new players that mix really well with us returners. We gel pretty well.”
Central 3, Parkview 1
Goals:
9:24: CHS – Tucker
34:05: CHS – Barstead
47:46: PHS – Ramadhan, assist Nash
65:47: CHS – Barstead
