By Denise Tucker (For Ozarks SportsZone.com)
After graduating a ton of experience in 2019 and then losing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ozark Lady Tigers will field a young squad heading into the 2021 season.
“We have no seniors this year,” said Ozark coach Chris Shull, who has a 322-242-12 combined record with the Ozark girls and Greenwood boys, including a 33-15-2 mark at Ozark. “For the underclassmen, this is an exciting opportunity. The varsity roster right now is in no way solidified because it’s such a ‘new’ team after losing seven seniors in 2019 and then not having a season last year.”
Shull added that while the loss of the season was a blow for the Class of 2020 (midfielders Olivia Belles and Ashley Mallonee, and defender Eliza McComas), he is confident they will turn it into a positive.
“I feel bad for the seniors who lost that season last spring,” Shull said. “Our hearts go out to them but realize they have moved on with their lives and new adventures. (It was) just a tough deal all around and no one understands what that would feel like unless you were a senior last year.
“Perhaps those same kids will grow up and be able to articulate to their own children on lessons like – how to seize the moment, take risks, don’t wait, do your best, work hard and leave no regret.”
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The Lady Tigers, who finished 15-8-2 overall and 8-1 in the Central Ozark Conference in 2019, do return two players who earned varsity minutes as freshmen and who Shull sees as leaders this season.
• Madison Morgan, junior, forward – “Was the only former freshman who received tremendous playing time on varsity,” Shull said. “Madison is now a junior and is considered a good leader. She has really worked hard in the offseason to improve her game. She has great vision and is expected to lead the offense this season.”
• Laney Burks, junior, goalkeeper – “Was the only other former freshman who received playing time on varsity. Laney is a physical presence and leader for our defense. She is one the most verbal goalkeepers I have had the privilege to coach.”
Having lost the majority of its roster the past two years, Ozark will have several newcomers looking to compete for a varsity spot.
“Every player has the chance to compete to make the varsity roster,” Shull said. “Competition at positions will speak for themselves. There will be 4-5 players that may not stand out because they have not played high school soccer yet (freshmen and sophomores), but are looking to make their mark.”
A few of Ozark’s newcomers include:
• Haley Mallonee, junior, midfielder/forward – “Has come a long way,” Shull said. “Haley is a late bloomer in terms of her falling in love with the game of soccer. It is really exciting to see her steer towards wanting to get better and help lead her team. This will be her first time on varsity and she is eager and excited to get started. We expect big things from her this season.”
• Shae Combs, sophomore, midfielder – “Shae will step in and help immediately. She is a very talented presence on the field and she is defining herself in playing multiple positions.”
• Annabelle Shuler, sophomore, midfielder – “One of the hardest-working players you will ever see. She is also the most coachable. She is like a sponge of knowledge and she wants criticism and feedback always. Personalities like hers is the reason I coach. She always wants to get better and strives to do so.”
• Emma Burton, sophomore defender, and Trinity Schupp, junior, defender/midfielder – “Both are high-character young ladies who are selfless and the ‘chemistry boosters’ on a team. Not only are they strong players on the field, their leadership off the field is very valuable.”
• Molly Rushing, sophomore, midfielder – “A physical presence on the field. It will be interesting to see the measure of the impact Molly will have on the field this season. She has so much potential to step out this year and define our team attitude. She is a hard-nose, tough player but at the same time, will rattle off three knock-knock jokes in a row to keep the team grounded. Any coach who puts pressure on a newcomer to help define our team can be risky, but then again, they don’t know Molly.”
Shull has been encouraged by the offseason commitment of his young squad. Previously, Shull said 30 percent of the varsity roster played competitively in the offseason, but that number is up to around 80 percent.
“We will be competitive,” Shull said. “We will be a work-in-progress, but this team will continue to make strides. Trust, patience, hard work and relying on this team’s character will be the key to success.”
Ozark will participate in a jamboree at Springfield Catholic with Republic and Rogersville on March 12 before opening the season with a doubleheader at Waynesville against Battle and Columbia Hickman on March 20.
“As far as missing last year, there is not a student-athlete in the state of Missouri that doesn’t still feel the pain of missing that lost year,” Shull said. “I would imagine that every player (in all spring sports) is going to be ready to go this year with a sense of urgency you wouldn’t typical see otherwise.”
