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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Nixa, Mo. — The soccer version of the Backyard Brawl received bonus play this week, as Ozark and Nixa squared off for the Class 4 District 10 championship.
Junior Hunter Daniels’ goal in the 63rd minute turned out to be the game-winner, as the Eagles downed the Tigers 2-0 to move on to the state sectional round.
Nixa was the aggressor early on, utilizing its speed and ball control to open up repeated shot opportunities; however, the half belonged to the goal keepers.
Nixa senior Jacob Price and Ozark junior Sean Smith both played exceptionally well in the opening frame, and back-to-back diving saves from each within a minute of one another set the tone early on.
With the teams headed to the scoreless half, both coaches felt like their team was in a good position.
For Ozark, head coach Tom Davidson felt like his team had weathered the early storm.
“I thought we created some good opportunities in the first half, but we just didn’t get enough on a couple of them that were good ones,” Davidson said. “We knew they were going to put some pressure on us, and we were happy to be there zero-zero at the half.”
Despite coming up empty in the half, Nixa’s Evan Palmer felt the early pressure would pay off if the Eagles could find another gear in the second.
“We really wanted to up our level; we really wanted to go for it,” Palmer said. “We felt like at the end of the first half, they were wearing down a little bit in the back. We were putting a lot of pressure on them, and they were running a lot.”
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Nixa didn’t have to wait long.
Senior Jacob Romero found a seam inside the 20, broke through and hit an open Daniels with a crosser for the score.
“We know those guys are good at penetrating,” Palmer said. “Hunter does just a fabulous job off the dribble, and Jake was it this time. He penetrated, found Hunter and it was just a nice goal.”
Just over a minute later, Nixa capitalized on another opportunity when Daniels was fouled inside the penalty box.
Senior Brady Harrison lined up for the penalty kick and blasted a ball to the right side of the net. While Smith was able to get a hand on the ball, he wasn’t able to punch it out of the net.
Midway through the half, Nixa found itself up 2-0.
Palmer attributed the inspired level of play from his team to halftime words from assistant coach Josh Posengate.
“Coach Posengate just said, ‘Great teams get after it in the second half. That’s kind of what Glendale did to us last week, so let’s be the great team now,’” Palmer said. “He challenged them, and the boys rose to the occasion in the second half.”
Still, Ozark wouldn’t go quietly.
The Tigers went into desperation mode in the final ten minutes, and the increased pressure began opening up scoring opportunities.
While a pair of corner kicks around the 75th minute both failed to convert, Ozark’s best look occurred two minutes later.
Price was too far to the right of the box to stop the shot; however, junior Tyler Stoneberger recorded a game-saving kick save right in front of the net to clear the ball and thwart the Ozark rally.
“I saw him lining up for the shot, and I thought I’d be by Price just in case,” Stoneberger said. “I didn’t figure it would go by, but it did. Luckily, I got it out in time.”
For Davidson and Ozark, the thrilling save only served to put the Tiger loss into perspective.
“The night was all summed up at the very end there,” Davidson said. “We have it six yards out with a kid running onto a ball. That’s a goal ten out of ten times. I just turned to coach and said, ‘That’s been our whole night.’”
The loss ends Ozark’s season at 16-10 and, in the end, Davidson simply had no answer for Daniels.
“The Daniels kid is special,” Davidson said. “I don’t have a finisher like that, and that’s the difference in these kinds of games where it’s even everywhere else. He’s the difference-maker.
Nixa (16-8) moves on to the sectional round, where it will meet up with Kickapoo on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
