Both Nixa and Springfield Catholic have big postseason plans.
Oddly enough, Tuesday's 3-1 Lady Eagles victory helped both teams get a little bit closer.
Utilizing a relentless attack in the first half, Nixa was able to dominate possession and capitalize on two early goals from Madisyn Pritchett and Daley Townsend.
Townsend also collected an assist on the opening goal on an unselfish, senior-to-freshman combo.
"The first goal, I was just dribbling down the middle," Townsend said. "I saw Maddi Pritchett open in the middle. She's a freshman, but she's been doing some really good stuff for us, so I just put it to her, it bounced through and she just put it home."
Nixa head coach Evan Palmer stressed the importance of getting the ball up the field early on with Catholic struggling to make adjustments. The Lady Eagles tallied nine shots on-goal in the first half.
"With our attack, we were able to kind of find the channels," Palmer said. "We get the ball up to our forwards, and our outside mids are making great runs. We just have to get the ball, see what we have and then go to goal."
Catholic head coach Ben Timson pointed to difficulties adjusting to Nixa's numbers scheme.
"We were having a hard time figuring out marks early," Timson said. "They were getting numbers forward; six and seven girls forward, and that was causing us some problems. It took us a while to adjust to that. Once we did, I thought we had a good fifteen-minute stretch there in the first half. We generated some chances, but none of them went."
When Nixa's attack wasn't pushing the pace against Catholic's back line, the Lady Eagle defenders were quick to kill any semblance of an organized run from the Lady Irish.
Defender Kalie Huff, in particular, was a one-girl buzz saw in the opening frame. Time and time again, the senior burst into Catholic's passing lanes and stole would-be passes to outside runners near the goal.
Palmer pointed to his team's tendency to go against the grain with formations and bring up an extra attacker, which can put additional pressure on the remaining defenders on the back line.
"A lot of people play a flat-four," Palmer said. "We don't do that. We like to push somebody up from our back line. It's also for those outsides so they can kind of sneak into those passing lanes and look for that ball. Sometimes our outside mids don't quite get back on their outside mids, so we look to sneak in as they try to switch it. Kalie does a great job doing that. She reads it so well, gets the ball and usually does good things with it, too."
The second half saw Catholic's attack open up early opportunities.
A Lady Irish rocket from Brinn Cooper was turned away by a diving Hannah Todd at the left post; however, Nixa's senior keeper wasn't able to smother the ball. Freshman Kaleia Huttenlocher corralled the deflection and punched the ball through for Catholic's lone score.
Ten minutes later, Nixa returned the favor.
Catholic keeper Kaitlin Knetzke's beautiful diving save negated a crossing attempt from Chloe Cash, but the ball deflected right into the open path of Alex Johnston, who absolutely pounded home a shot from just outside the right goal box for the 3-1 final score.
The victory puts the Lady Eagles in a good spot as preparation for a district showdown with Ozark and Kickapoo continues. While those schools already account for two of Nixa's five losses, Palmer's team is shaping up to be a tough out in the postseason.
"We're almost where we want to be," Palmer said. "We still left a lot of chances out there, finishing-wise. In high-pressure situations, we've got to find a way to put the ball in, and that's the toughest thing in soccer to do. We just have to continue to improve, and take our chances when they come."
For Catholic and Timson, the game served as yet another opportunity to stress-test the injury-riddled Class 2 behemoth prior to postseason play. Injuries are a part of every team's journey at some point, yet Catholic's shallow depth has been put to the test this season with all-staters Emma Skornia and Peyton McNabb out of action.
An outside chance exists that Skornia could return to the pitch this season, although Timson refused to speculate on the outlook. Catholic's run of seven-straight final fours would certainly get a boost from the junior forward's presence; however, the 19-year coach remains focused on the task at hand.
"The reason we plays these schools is to get games like this, so they will expose weaknesses that we have, and we will then understand what we need to improve on," Timson said. "Hopefully, that will carry us a long way. The girls are always crushed by a loss, but I'm more concerned about process than outcome at this point in the season."
Nixa (12-5) travels to Webb City on Tuesday, while Catholic (13-6-1) travels to Ozark on Thursday.
Nixa – 3, Catholic – 1
First-half scoring
13:33 – Nixa: Madisyn Pritchett (Daley Townsend assist)
6:17 – Nixa: Daley Townsend (unassisted)
Second-half scoring
36:15 – Catholic: Kaleia Huttenlocher (Brinn Cooper assist)
26:14 – Nixa: Alex Johnson (Chloe Cash assist)
JV Score: Nixa – 8, Catholic – 0
