By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Nixa High Lady Eagles notched their fourth win of the season, Thursday afternoon in Nixa, and it was a big one.
The Eagles combined a stellar defensive effort, with two timely goals, to upend the defending back-to-back state champion St. Teresa Academy Stars 2-0.
“This was without a doubt the biggest win our girls have ever had,” said Nixa head coach Evan Palmer. “We’ve had some trouble in the past finishing against quality teams, but our girls didn’t let that happen today. They beat a team that has proven to be very solid and well coached over the past few years. I’m so proud of the way they kept focused for the entire game to get this win.”
St. Teresa kept pressure on the Eagles throughout the early moments of the contest. But, at about the 24-minute mark, the momentum shifted towards the Eagles.
With eight minutes left in the opening half of play, Nixa’s Arianna Cobb drilled the ball in the right corner of the goal to put the Eagles out in front 1-0.
“I took it from somebody on defense when they rolled it out and I kicked it into the right corner,” Cobb said. “At first I didn’t realize it went in, but when I did, it was the best feeling ever. We were out in front of the defending back to back state champions and it felt great.”
“Arianna made a nice shot into the corner,” said Palmer. “We had the wind at our back and we needed a score. She got one for us and it really got us going.”
The Eagles got some needed insurance, on their side of the scoreboard, as second period play got underway.
This time the heroics came from sophomore Erica Hartley. Hartly booted the ball into the goal at the 38:52 mark of the second half.
“I was so happy when I scored our second goal,” Hartley said. “I wanted this one for my teammates. It was such an amazing feeling knowing that we were up by two goals now.”
The 2-0 victory pushed the Eagles record up to 4-1-1 for the season. The Stars fell to 2-3 on the year.
“We had numerous opportunities to score,” St. Teresa head coach Jeremy McElduff said. “But we struggled around the goal on both sides of the field. We fixed the defensive problems we had in the second half; we just couldn’t get the ball in the net.”
“This has been a different kind of a year for our kids so far,” said the coach. “We lost five starters off last year’s team and even though our kids have a lot of talent and ability this year, we just haven’t figured out how to get things done together yet.”
One item on the Eagles team that the Stars couldn’t figure out was goalie Riley McClintock. McClintock turned back several shots, made by the Stars, throughout the game to preserve the Eagle shutout.
“Riley is just a freshman. She reads the ball well, has fairly good hands and even though she’s not that tall she can find the ball through all those trees,” said Eagle coach Palmer. “She knows when to come out and when to stay in. So far she’s done a fantastic job of us.”
The Eagles will travel to Kickapoo to take on the Lady Chiefs on Monday and on Tuesday they’ll be on the road to Joplin.
Scoreboard 1 2 F
St. Teresa 0 0 0
Nixa 1 1 2
