By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The young lineup that first took the pitch for the Nixa Eagles from 2019-2021 is this season’s experienced squad and the strength of the 2022 roster.
“We have seven players who have been on varsity all of their high school careers and another three who have two years on varsity, so our experience should be a key to our success,” said Nixa coach Evan Palmer, who enters his 28th season with the Eagles. “We have had some highs, but there have been some lows that we hope to remedy this season.”
That group is 43-27 over the past three seasons with a Class 4 District 12 championship sandwiched in between. Last season, the Eagles finished 14-9 overall and 6-3 in the Central Ozark Conference, good for third place.
“We had a slow start but caught fire in the middle of the season, winning nine in a row and being ranked in the top 10 after wins over Jackson (No. 2 in the state) and Lee’s Summit West,” Palmer said. “We struggled down the stretch, though, and we weren’t clicking like we should have been.”
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Though the Eagles lose just two full-time starters, they also lose a great deal of experience with the graduation of seven players from the Class of 2022:
• Josh Stoneberger – Started 10 games, played in 13 and scored 3 goals. “A strong defender; great in the air,” Palmer said.
• Landon Myers – 18 starts, 21 games. “A versatile player that helped us all over the field.”
• Aidan Matlock – 21 starts, 22 games, 4 goals, 3 assists. “Excellent on the ball, good at going to goal.”
• Isaac Nuccio – 9 starts, 21 games, 1 goal, 2 assists. “Overcame an injury to give us great minutes in the midfield.”
• Mateo Soriano – 16 games, 1 goal, 1 assist. “Great soccer instincts; helped us in the final third.”
• Jack Harris – 2 starts, 14 games, 1 assist. “Improved tremendously in his four years here; gave us good minutes up top.”
• Alvaro Louro – 3 starts, 15 games, 1 goal, 2 assists. “An exchange student from Spain, who gave us great minutes in the center-mid.”
And like most every season, the Eagles return a roster full of depth and experience including 10 seniors, two juniors and two sophomores. However, a big loss Nixa will need to overcome is the loss of senior forward Andrew Butler, who tore his ACL this summer and will miss the entire season.
“He was our leading scorer last year and this is a huge blow to us,” Palmer said of Butler. “He is an excellent 1v1 attacking player who is tough to defend.”
Butler scored 14 goals with eight assists last season in earning All-COC and Class 4 All-District 12 first-team honors, in addition to being a second-team all-state selection.
“Scoring has been a challenge for this group for their high school career,” Palmer said. “Losing Andrew makes it more of a challenge, but we have the players who can score consistently – they just have to go out there and do it. There are great teams in the area and the state that we will play. We have to come into every game with the mindset that we have to play our best to win.”
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Another motivating factor heading into this season is a loss to Republic late in 2021, which Palmer said he hasn’t gotten over.
“It was our last conference game and if we win, we tie for the conference championship,” Palmer said. “We came out flat and Republic beat us at home 2-0. That one still stings and has been a motivation for the 2022 team this offseason.”
The 2022 Eagles will be led by Carson Palmer, Colin Cash, Kaleb James and Zach Naugle – all of whom have been starting since their freshmen year.
• Carson Palmer, senior midfielder – Scored 8 goals, with 9 assists; first-team All-COC, all-district and all-region, and second-team all-state. “A four-year letterman who has been starting since midway through his freshman year,” Coach Palmer said. “Excellent vision and touch, has improved his speed to be one of the fastest on the team.”
• Colin Cash, senior midfielder – 5 goals, 5 assists; second-team All-COC, first-team all-district. “A four-year letterman, like Carson, he has been starting since his freshman year. He has great touch and vision, as well. He and Carson are dominant center-mids; maybe the best duo in the center midfield of any team in the area.”
• Kaleb James, senior defender – 1 assist; second-team All-COC, first-team all-district. “A four-year letterman who started most of his freshman year and the last two, as well. A very tough defender, who has been the leader of the defense the last three years. He is the kicker for the football team, as well, and does a great job balancing both in the fall.”
• Zach Naugle, senior forward – 9 goals, 7 assists; honorable mention All-COC, first-team all-district. “A four-year letterman who has been starting since his freshman year. Strong and fast, he is tough to handle for other teams. Part of our keys to success this year is for Zach to find the net, and I know he will.”
• Zack Voelker, senior defender – 1 goal, 2 assists. “A four-year letterman who has been starting since his sophomore year. An excellent 1v1 defender who can go forward, which puts a huge stress on our opponents.”
• Seth Weatherfield, senior defender. “A four-year letterman who has been starting since his sophomore year. Very tough defender, smart and quick. His distribution has improved a lot. He is also a great leader in the back.”
• Presley Sundy, senior midfielder – 1 goal. “A three-year letterman who gave us great minutes off the bench last year – looking like a starter this year. He works hard in the center mid and has looked really good this summer; his touch and field vision have improved.”
• Corey Kemp, senior forward – 4 goals, 3 assists. “A three-year letterman who came off the bench last year and is looking very good so far this summer. His speed and tenacity are tough on other teams’ defenses.”
• Luke Milam, senior forward – 1 goal, 2 assists. “A three-year letterman who gave us great minutes off the bench and is pushing for a starting position this year. Excellent touch on the ball. We will need some goals from him this year.”
• Logan Elmer, senior goalkeeper. “A one-year letterman who started and played every minute in goal for us. He has learned the position quickly and has done a great job.”
• Jacob McClain, junior defender. “A two-year letterman who was valuable for us off the bench last year. Excellent defender, strong and smart; could be a starter for us this year.”
• Sam Sellenriek, junior defender. “A one-year letterman. We are looking for Sam to have a great year on the back line. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, we have confidence in his defensive abilities.”
• Caeden Cloud, sophomore forward – 5 goals, 4 assists, honorable mention All-COC. “A one-year letterman, who started every game as a freshman. He is probably the best athlete we have. He can play multiple positions, but this year we will need him up top to score for us.”
• Blake Reynolds, sophomore defender. “A one-year letterman, who had a great freshman year coming off the bench. He’s a very smart defender and distributes the ball well.”
In addition to his experienced returnees, Palmer has several newcomers who also could contribute this season.
“We have been working out a few times a week in June and July,” Palmer said. “The numbers we are getting at workouts have been very good. We are playing a few scrimmages this summer, which is good to get out against other competition.”
• Tyler Neal, senior defender. “Tyler has really improved and should give us good minutes on the back line,” Palmer said.
• Zach Jones, senior forward. “Zach works hard and that is paying off. He could see good minutes up in our attack.”
• Anshu Giliyaru, senior forward. “Anshu has improved maybe more than anyone I have seen come through the program. He led our junior varsity in goals last year, so hopefully, that will translate to goals on the varsity.”
• Ben McGehee, junior midfielder. “Ben has great touch and instincts. He could see a lot of time in the midfield.”
• Lucas Green, junior forward. “Lucas has a nice left foot, which is always something coaches look for. He could see a lot of time up top.”
• Jayden Tate, sophomore midfielder. “He is a great athlete whose touch on the ball has come a long way since last year. We need his minutes in the center mid.”
• Mason Adair, freshman goalkeeper. “Mason has impressed this summer. He has excellent technique and knows the game well.”
Nixa will participate in a jamboree at Kickapoo at 6 p.m., Aug. 23, along with Glendale before opening the season at Columbia Hickman and Columbia Rock Bridge on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27, respectively. The Eagles beat both Columbia teams last year and Palmer expects those teams will be looking to avenge those losses.
“We should have a pretty good team this year,” Palmer said. “We play a tough schedule, which hopefully, will prepare us for a postseason run in November. The teams in the area are very good and the parody should be there for this fall, as it has been the last few years.”
