By Levi Payton
With four consecutive district titles to their name, the Nixa Eagles entered Thursday’s Class 4 District 11 soccer championship at Joplin High School with a simple plan to claim another.
“We knew if we could just keep the ball, move it around, we’d find the open player and be able to get goals,” Eagles coach Evan Palmer said.
Well, the plan worked. The Eagles came away with eight goals in an 8-0 victory over Branson. Their fifth straight title marks the Eagles’ sixth district crown in program history.
Nixa (16-5-1) hosts Lee’s Summit West (16-5) on Tuesday. Branson finished its season 10-10.
Scoreless for the first 10 minutes, the floodgates opened for the Eagles in the 11th minute when Branson keeper Lauren Garrison collided with a teammate while attempting a save, allowing Nixa’s Alex Johnson easy access at an open net for her first of three goals on the evening.
Nixa’s second goal came some 14 minutes, 47 seconds later when Madisyn Pritchett redirected a cross past Garrison to make it 2-0. That set off a three-goal succession spanning nine minutes for the Eagles, including Johnson’s second to make it 3-0 and another by Chloe Cash to give the Eagles a 4-0 lead at halftime.
Hannah Lannutti, Johnson, Lizabeth Davis and Gracie Gimlin added insurance goals in the second half.
For the Pirates, the strain of Tuesday’s overtime victory over Republic — their first district win in the program’s nine-year history — took something out of them on Thursday.
“(That game) took almost two and a half hours and went to (penalty kicks),” Pirates coach Brandon Scott said. “It was evident tonight we were very tired. You could just see from the beginning Nixa was just wearing us down.”
“We knew if we could move it around … they played a lot of minutes on Tuesday,” Palmer said. “I love how the girls kept going to the goal. … We just wanted to make sure that we get it done.”
The Eagles outshot the Pirates 24-1. Garrison saved 12 shots for Branson.
In claiming her fourth district title, Johnson said she’s proud of the accomplishments the senior class has achieved thus far, but isn’t ready for her career to end quite yet.
“It just feels great to keep that legacy going with our grade,” Johnson said. “We’re rolling pretty good. … I feel now we’ve actually got our chemistry going, it’s flowing, so hopefully our season won’t end after Tuesday and we can hopefully make it to state.”
Despite the loss, the future remains bright for the Pirates, who expect to have nine starters returning next season.
“This was the first district championship to play in for our girls,” Scott said. “That’s a huge stepping stone for us. We’re very excited about the future.”
As for the Eagles, their work continues. But with a weekend of scouting planned, Thursday, however, was a time to celebrate.
“It’s great to see our program grow like this,” Palmer said. “These girls are very deserving of this championship.”
Branson 0 0 – 0
Nixa 4 4 – 8
First Half
N–Alex Johnson 11:00
N-Madisyn Pritchett 26:00
N-Johnson 28:00
N-Chloe Cash 33:00
Second Half
N-Hannah Lannutti 45:00
N-Johnson (Pritchett assist) 56:00
N-Lizabeth Davis 64:00
N-Gracie Gimlin (Cash) 76:00
Shots–Branson 1, Nixa 24.
Saves–Branson: Lauren Garrison 12; Nixa: Riley McClintock 1.
