By Kary Booher
Here’s the scary reality about the Nixa High School girls soccer team: Everybody figured they’d contend this spring.
But after a brutal schedule this week, including state powerhouse St. Theresa’s Academy on Thursday? Look out, because the Lady Eagles could be even more formidable come postseason time.
“I definitely think we have a lot of improvement to do,” Nixa senior Alex Johnson said. “With this big game coming up Thursday, we did well distributing the ball. We just have to get faster with it. Today was a good practice.”
Johnson offered those words after Nixa left the Neosho Lady Wildcats stunned in a 6-0 finale in which Johnson delivered her second hat trick of the season and the Lady Eagles’ stout defense proved stubborn at Eagle Stadium.
Neosho had been on a roll coming in, moving to No. 9 in the Ozone’s most recent power rankings. But the Lady Wildcats managed to take the ball inside the 10-yard line only five times in the game’s final 52 minutes. In fact, Neosho had only three clear shots on goal in the second half, only to be denied.
With it, Nixa improved to 3-1-1, enhancing its No. 4 spot in the Ozone’s local power rankings. But they’ve been battle-tested. On Saturday, the Lady Eagles tied Lindberg 0-0 and lost to Cor Jesu 2-0 in a St. Louis tournament, with both goals scored in the second half. St. Theresa’s, a back-to-back state champion, visits for a 4 p.m. game Thursday.
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“Our quickness of play is getting a lot better. We’re getting there,” Nixa coach Evan Palmer said. “We still have to tweak a few things with our attacking third. We really struggled getting the ball forward this weekend. That’s something we really need to do when we are pushed – to just give our defense a break.”
Nixa showed its adjustments well against Neosho, which deployed a trap defense. Johnson scored Nixa’s first two goals, and then Chloe Cash scored the first of her two at the 17-minute mark of the first half, with Madisyn Pritchett adding a goal just before halftime.
“The first half, I thought we played really well. We controlled the game. They didn’t get much going forward,” Palmer said. “It’s all about learning how to beat that trap. You can practice it but, once you see it, it’s a little different. We were able to break it at times. I’m proud of the girls for adjusting that that. They did a good job of adjusting on the fly.”
Said Nixa sweeper Annslee Glenn, “We’ve been still working on switching the field every time the ball gets back to us. … This weekend really prepared us.”
Neosho fell to 4-2 but had some positives. For one, its defense held Nixa scoreless until Johnson scored her third goal with 7:55 left before the final horn, with goalkeeper Makayla Hayes making five difficult saves.
But Alicia Cooper, back in the lineup, saw Nixa goalkeeper Riley McClintock block a shot, while reserve goalkeeper Marissa Carpenter denied a penalty kick.
“Their speed really got us,” Neosho coach Steve Schnackenberg said. “I thought we had a pretty good 15 minutes or so, and we got our heads down when we gave up that (first goal to Johnson). A team at that level, they’re going to make you pay when you get your heads down.”
