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By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Sometimes a short turnaround is the perfect wake-up call.
Defending district champion Springfield Catholic didn’t have much time to sulk over recent one-goal losses to Nixa and Ozark.
The Lady Irish entered Tuesday’s home match against Logan-Rogersville wanting to erase any potential for an early season losing streak.
“We had a lot of enthusiasm coming into the game, but we were also kind of… unbalanced because we had lost two games in a row,” said Catholic sophomore Olivia Swisshelm. “We wanted to get back into the flow of things and get on the winning side again.”
One day after losing 2-1 at Ozark, Catholic bounced back with a 2-0 home win over Logan-Rogersville.
The Lady Irish (2-2 overall, 1-0 Big 8) struck early in both halves, with goals from Swisshelm (5’) and freshman Campbell Morgan (45’).
But the final result may be deceiving.
Coach Mike Hines said his team underperformed compared to Monday’s match at Ozark.
“I think we played a little flat tonight,” Hines said. “The girls aren’t pleased with the overall effort, I think they would say that. Last night was a lot better against Ozark. I don’t know if it was back-to-back games or the wind. We tried to do some good things but we also saw some old habits coming back and we have to fix that in order to get better.
“It was just lots of little things adding up to big things. We’re going to get better with practice.”
Going against a heavy south wind, Catholic went up 1-0 in the 5th minute when Swisshelm converted on a breakaway.
Swisshelm was one of the area’s top freshmen a year ago, finishing with 17 goals and seven assists.
“I’m looking to surpass my goal amount (from last year), so that’s one of my goals,” Swisshelm said. “And I’m trying to do the best I can and be there for my teammates. I want to be a good teammate to work with.”
Playing with the wind in the second half, Catholic scored early again when Morgan received a long pass in the box and found space to score.
Campbell was one of many underclassmen to see the field Tuesday night.
Catholic, which graduated eight seniors a year ago, played six freshmen against Logan-Rogersville and has only three seniors on this year’s squad.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“I think we played better in the second half,” Hines said. “It’s hard to say why. The wind’s blowing, it’s hard to communicate, so that affects everything. (Logan-Rogersville) didn’t make it easy for us. But you take the win, watch the film and learn from it.”
For the second straight game, Logan-Rogersville failed to score in regulation. The Lady Wildcats (2-1 overall) beat Republic in PKs (1-0) last Thursday after winning their season opener 8-0 against Fair Grove.
“We had a hard time putting any attacks together tonight,” said Lady Wildcats coach Brett Wubbena. “We’re still getting our full team together and working as one unit, especially along our back line, but we’ll get better with time. We’re still trying to figure out what this team will be.”
The Lady Wildcats kept the margin at 2-0 thanks in part to a superb second-half performance from senior goalkeeper Kierra Clark.
“She was awesome in goal,” Wubbena said.
With the win, Catholic has now won 14 straight matches against its Big 8 (formerly COC-Small) rival. Logan-Rogersville last beat Catholic on April 17, 2012 (a 1-0 win at home).
Logan-Rogersville begins a three-game home stand this Thursday, facing Springfield Central.
Catholic continues a six-game home stand this Saturday against Cedar Hill Northwest.
Tuesday’s contest served as the final game for local referee Tim Noonan. He officiated high school soccer for 31 years.
Springfield Catholic honored the retiring Noonan with a pregame ceremony.
