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By Kai Raymer (For Ozarks SportsZone.com)
Sometimes, getting hit in the face isn’t all bad.
The Monett Cubs have used a recent setback for focus and motivation.
Monett’s bounce-back stretch continued Tuesday night with a 3-0 win at Rogersville, which all but locked up the top seed for the Cubs in the Class 2 District 9 tournament later this month.
Since a 4-0 home loss to Catholic on Sept. 20, Monett’s won five of its last six matches. The lone loss was to Class 4 Nixa, and wins have come against the likes of Glendale (Class 3) and Republic (Class 4).
“We got slapped in the face a little bit,” Monett coach Cristobal Villa said of the Catholic loss. “Sometimes, you have to get those games off your back and I’d rather do it now than later.”
Loger Rodriguez put the Cubs ahead for good in the 16th minute when he finished a long run down the left side. The Cubs (14-3 overall) have dominated their recent matches against Rogersville, going 6-0 and outscoring the Wildcats 37-3 since 2015.
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“I think our team just feels really comfortable,” Villa said. “We know (Rogersville) is state-ranked like us, it’s a conference game and a district-seeding game. We wanted to come out here and really get this win tonight.”
Cubs senior Jason Puente scored the first of his two goals in the 32nd minute. Puente eluded multiple defenders in the box, turned and fired a shot past the Rogersville goalkeeper.
“He’s freaky on the ball. He has good ball control,” said Rogersville coach Brett Wubbena. “He can strike it well, and we know that. It’s the problem everybody (Monett) faces has to worry about.”
Monett sealed the win in the 51st minute by setting up Puente with a through ball down the middle of the field. With two goals on the night, Puente’s now 21 goals away from setting Missouri’s all-time boys’ high school record.
Rolla’s Aaron Froehlich (2010-13) holds the career record with 182 goals.
Both Rogersville and Monett entered Tuesday’s match coming off weekend tournament. Rogersville recently lost four-year starting center back J.D. Kennedy to a season-ending injury, putting the Wildcats’ lineup in flux.
“J.D. was one of the rocks of our team. We’ve probably had five practices in the last four years without him,” Wubbena said. “I told our team afterwards, ‘We have to figure out what we’re doing.’ Losing (J.D.), a lot of things change. Formations change, positions change.
“We have to figure out how we best fit now, but we have three weeks to do it.”
Rogersville (12-4 overall) hosts Central on Thursday and plays at New Covenant Academy on Friday. Monett hosts Ozark on Thursday.
