The Parkview Vikings beat the Nixa Eagles in a both team’s first District 11 game of the season. The match was scoreless throughout the first 80 minutes, before going to 20 minutes of scoreless overtimes, and heading to Penalty Kicks. Keeper Caylin Manary earned her 2nd shutout in as many games.

The first half was a bit of a struggle for the Vikings, as Nixa dominated the majority of the possession for the first 40 minutes of play. Parkview was able to keep their composure, and team defended quite well, only allowing a few legitimate scoring opportunities. The young PHS defense held it’s own, anchored by freshmen Aubrey Durst and Amy Greene, and juniors Holly Messick and Anna Withers.

In the second half, the Viking’s offense showed up to pull their weight. Mckenzi Payton held down the middle of the field, as Jessica Maerz and Molly Robb worked hard to create scoring opportunities. The ability of the offense to hold the ball an even amount and put pressure on the Eagle’s defenders helped keep Parkview in the game.

After a tired and scoreless overtime, the match went to Penalty Kicks. All five Parkview shooters scored their shots from the mark: Mckenzi Payton, Shelby Stewart, Aubrey Durst, Jessica Maerz, and Kelsey Loderhose (in order). Loderhose’s shot was the winner, after Nixa’s #4 kicker missed her shot off the crossbar.

Nixa 1st shooter: Scored (1-0)
Mckenzi Payton: Scored (1-1)
Nixa 2nd shooter: Scored (2-1)
Shelby Stewart: Scored (2-2)
Nixa 3rd Shooter: Scored (3-2)
Aubrey Durst: Scored (3-3)
Nixa 4th Shooter: Scored (4-3)
Jessica Maerz: Scored (4-4)
Nixa 5th shooter: Missed (4-4)
Kelsey Loderhose: Scored (4-5) Vikings Win

The next PHS game is against Logan Rogersville. The game is on Thursday at Rogersville, with the Varsity match kicking off at 4:30pm, and the JV game to follow.

JV
Parkview 0
Nixa 4

The Parkview Lady Vikings opened their season on Friday night with a 7-0 win over Carthage. The Vikings’ potent offense picked up where they left off last year, anchored by mainstays Shelby Stewart and Jessica Maerz. Maerz scored and had an assist, and Stewart scored as well. Kelsey Loderhose picked up two of her own, and Mckenzi Payton dominated the midfield for the majority of the game, getting into the offense as well by hammering in a ball that came out of the box on a misclear.

While the Vikings were clearly lead by their seniors and a few key juniors, the freshmen were able to get into the mix as well. Aubrey Durst and Amy Greene both started on the back line and held their own quite well, and Emily Courtney played solid at outside mid for the injured Melanie Allen. Senior keeper Caylin Manary picked up the shutout in goal.

Steve Olson of www.sgfsoccer.com was at the game, and wrote up a report of his own. It’s always good to get extra press, so thank Steve for coming when you see him at games (he’ll be the one on the sidelines holding a camera, and most likely walking around barefoot when it warms up). For those that don’t know, “Ole” is the reason we have a website, and the only consistent, reliable, midwest soccer news source around.

Scoring Summary: Kelsey Loderhose 2g, Jessica Maerz 2g 1a, Shelby Stewart 2g, Mckenzi Payton 1g Caylin Manary shutout.

The Junior Varsity squad won their opener 5-0, with four different people getting into the scoring action. After hammering the goal for the first half, Amanda Leckrone received a forty yard pass from Marissa Deffenbaugh, and was able to score with a few minutes left to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Leckrone was later able to score again, as was Mary Langebartel, Alex Shupert, and Keyuna Mays. Maddie George earned the shutout in the net.

The JV photo above was taken by Joe George (Maddie’s dad). Joe has been at essentially every game the last few years, taking pictures and sending them to me so I can get them up on the website. Click on the “comments” link on this article to find out how you can view more of Joe’s PHS Soccer photos.

Scoring Summary: Amanda Leckrone 2g, Mary Langebartel 1g, Alex Shupert 1g, Keyuna Mays 1g, Maddie George shutout.

The next Parkview game is on Tuesday against the Nixa Eagles. The match is at 4:00pm on the PHS Grass Field, with the Junior Varsity match scheduled first, and the Varsity to follow around 5:45pm.

Last year the Lady Vikings finished 14-10, and right smack in the middle of the Ozark Conference at 5-4. The Parkview girls will look to continue their recent trend with another increase in victories in the 2010 season. The first match of the season for the Vikings will be March 26, with a Varsity kickoff of 5:30pm.

Anchored by returning seniors Shelby Stewart (forward), Jessica Maerz (midfielder), Caylin Manary (keeper), and Melanie Allen (midfielder), Parkview will actually be returning 10 of last years 11 starters. The Vikings also have a stellar Junior class, including last year’s sweeper Mckenzi Payton, Kelsey Loderhose (14 goals in 2009), Holly Messick (defense), Anna Withers (defense), Molly Robb (forward), and many more who will look to contribute at the Varsity level this Spring.

The 2009 Spring season was a successful one for the Vikings, but with expectations raised and the bar set even higher, the Parkview Ladies know that they will have to work hard once again to continue their winning ways in 2010.