By Zach Mason (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A red card in the first few minutes of action set the stage for a 6-1 victory for Nixa over Monett on Thursday night.
Playing a soft pass from a defender, Monett keeper Joshua Patino ventured out to scoop up the ball in the third minute of the game. In a close call, the referee ruled that Patino had used hands over the line and therefore was issued a red card.
“It is his job to come out and get the ball,” said Monett head coach Cristobal Villa. “He is not going to know exactly where the line is, he thought he was right on it, but he was apparently just beyond it. It was an unfortunate situation.”
Playing a man down did not deter the Cubs in the first-half. In fact, the red card seemed to fire up the Monett squad as they attacked the Nixa net.
“They were playing down and got adrenaline from it,” said Nixa head coach Evan Palmer. “We were giving up shots and weren’t getting the opportunities that we should in the first half.”
Even with the intensified play of the short handed Cubs, Ethan Pellegren was able to breakthrough at the 20 minute mark of the first half to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.
Entering the half with a 1-0 lead against a fired up, albeit shorthanded, Monett team, Palmer knew that he needed a better effort from his team to ensure a victory.
“I had to challenge them to come out with more intensity in the second half,” said Palmer.
The message came through as Nixa struck with three goals in just over the first 20 minutes of the second half of play. Two of the three goals came from Hunter Daniels, who would later complete a hat trick in the final 10 minutes of play.
The Cubs continued to fight in the second half. A goal from Jason Puente from nine yards out at the 12-minute mark on a free kick ignited the Monett bench.
However, it would not swing the tide, as Daniels would score his third goal of the night to complete the hat trick around at eight-minute mark. Pellegren would close it out with a goal at the eight-minute mark to close out the 6-1 Nixa victory.
With the victory, Nixa improves to 5-1 on the season. The Eagles will face Carthage next. Monett drops to 4-2 and will move on to face Carl Junction.
The two teams will meet again in a few weeks at the Kickapoo Tournament.
First-half scoring:
Nixa (20:00) – Ethan Pellegren
Second-half scoring:
Nixa (34:20) – Tanner Powley (Kyle Hirsch assist)
Nixa (21:45) – Hunter Daniels (Nathan Hirsch assist)
Nixa (18:00) – Hunter Daniels
Monett (12:00) – Jason Puente (Free Kick)
Nixa (8:30) – Hunter Daniels
Nixa (4:40) – Ethan Pellegren (Nathan Hirsch
