By Staff

Fall 2019 Preview: Nixa Soccer

By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

When you graduate seven senior starters, it helps to have new names ready to take over.

The Nixa Eagles – with a large senior class, a promising freshmen group and more talent in between – have just that.

“I feel we have as good of a chance as anyone to win the conference again and districts,” said Nixa coach Evan Palmer. “We have a lot of work to do and we will be a work-in-progress, but I think we can become a competitive team as the year goes on.”

Nixa welcomes back five seniors with varsity experience.

Carson Beets (six assists), Brock Nelson (three goals) and Zach Voi (two assists) will all fill midfield or forward roles.

“Carson’s very strong on the ball and has great technical ability and vision,” Palmer said. “Brock’s great on the ball and can go forward. We will need him to shoulder some of the scoring load this year.”

Voi returned to the sport after not playing his first two years of high school.

“He did a great job of getting back into the game and came off the bench for us last year,” Palmer said. “We will need him to be a strong starter for us.”

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Fellow seniors Cooper Hines and Kyle Hirsch return in the back.

“Cooper’s a great defender who we might push forward this year. He’s an excellent leader,” Palmer said. “Kyle will be our leader on the back line. “He’s an excellent one-vs-one defender.”

In the junior class, Nick Reid returns as the team’s starting goalkeeper. He allowed 35 goals in 21 matches last season (1.67 goals against average) with five shutouts.

Defender Bryce Richmond and midfielder Riley Lister earned playing time in more than a dozen varsity matches.

“Bryce improved a lot as a defender. We’ll need him to play big minutes for us this year,” Palmer said. “Riley, like Bryce, will need to be a player we rely on. He has good technical ability.”

Nixa enters its 25th season in program history this fall. Palmer has been at the helm for all 25 seasons.

“I think we’ll be able to defend well which will keep us in games and give our offense time to mature and learn how to create scoring chances since we will have new faces up top,” Palmer said.

The Eagles will have to replace a large amount of offensive production from last season. All-state selection Hunter Daniels, a four-year letterman, was one of the area’s top players.

He finished fourth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 54 goals and 44 assists.

Andreas Luiga, a transfer student from Sweden, emerged as a quality threat in his lone season with Nixa. He finished with 15 goals and five assists.

Ethan Pellegren (12 goals, nine assists) was the final piece of Nixa’s three-headed attack.

Also gone are defenders Tyler Stoneberger, Brandon Fox and Nathan Hirsch, along with midfielder Tanner Palmer.

Nixa will also be without sophomore defender/forward Josh Stoneberger, who suffered an offseason knee injury. He had five goals and five assists as a freshman.

The Eagles finished 15-8 overall last season. They earned a share of the conference title but lost to Kickapoo in their district opener.

Aidan Matlock (midfielder), Landon Myers (defender/midfielder) and Isaac Nuccio (defender/midfield) lead Nixa’s sophomore class. All three played in 10 or more varsity matches as freshmen.

“Aidan was injured late last year but we’re looking for a big year from him (in 2019). He’s a good, smart player,” Evan Palmer said. “Landon’s a solid defender and passer and we’ll need big minutes from him this fall.

“Isaac can play on defense or in the midfield. He’s a strong, physical player.”

Expect several freshmen to contend for varsity playing time.

Names like Andrew Butler (midfield/forward), Colin Cash (midfield), Kaleb James (defender), Zach Naugle (forward), Carson Palmer (midfield) and Jay Rhoades (goalkeeper) give Nixa immediate depth and promise for the future.

“We will probably have multiple freshmen play on varsity as we are low on numbers in the upper-classes, but these freshmen are high quality,” Evan Palmer said. “There might be more on varsity but it is too soon to tell.”

Two other additions to the team include senior Andrew Anello and sophomore Mateo Soriano.

Anello played soccer for Nixa earlier in his high school career and will also kick for the football team. Soriano’s a transfer from Joplin.

“Andrew’s a very good, left-footer who will be called upon to score some goals this year,” Evan Palmer said. “It’s good to have Mateo as we are missing some goal scorers with last year’s (seniors) gone.”

Nixa opens the season with a weekend doubleheader. The Eagles host Columbia Hickman on Aug. 30, then Rock Bridge on Aug. 31.