The negative is that Parkview has lost 10 games this season; the positive is that all but one of those losses has been by one goal. Parkview opened the KHS tournament with a 1-2 loss on Friday night, after taking a 1-0 lead into halftime on a Jared Moore PK. Dane Knapp was hit hard in the penalty area after he had given the ball up, and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Vikings, who had been out-possessed for the first 20 minutes of the first half. After Moore put his PK in upper-90, the Vikings evened up the possession the rest of the half.

In the second half possession was dominated by Eureka. Their first goal came when a striker was allowed to receive and settle the ball, then turn with it and shoot inside the 18. The second goal came on poor marking/miscommunication when a forward was allowed to get inside him man and finish a mostly uncontested opportunity. The Vikings had a few chances late when Coach Clint Nurnberg put 3 forwards up-top in an effort to kickstart the offense, but the Vikings were unable to capitalize. Parkview is clearly missing Alex Blanco, who whose play has been slim to none after a muscle injury about a week ago. His aggressiveness, marking ability, and field vision is sorely missed.

Parkview will now face Nixa at Ozark’s turf field on Saturday morning at 10:00am. Players are expected to take the bus from KHS, which departs at 8:30am.

The Varsity Parkview boys won their second conference game of the season against a hard fighting West Plains squad on Tuesday evening, 5-0. Nine minutes into the first half Brian Otradovec received a through-ball and beat a defender, and was subsequently tackled in the box. A penalty kick was awarded, and Otradovec slotted it into the corner for a 1-0 lead. The Zizzers, however, kept their composure and continued to team defend well in the first half. Although the Vikings controlled possession, West Plains was able to limit Parkview’s offense opportunities for most of the next 40, and half-time it was still a 1-0 game.

In the second half the Vikings offense began to click. Jared Moore played a great through-ball to Otradovec, who got his second of the night, and Otradovec was able to get a hat-trick with his third goal of the night a few minutes later. Dane Knapp and Jared Moore both also scored, with Knapp’s goal coming on a hard shot inside the low post from outside the 18, and Moore’s coming from beat his defender on goal line and slotting it in near post.

West Plains also wrote a fair and balanced article about the match, while SGF has the rest of the scores from the night.

Scoring summary: Brian Otradovec 3g, Jared Moore 1g 1a, Dane Knapp 1g

The Junior Varsity match found the Parkview squad with a fair amount of scoring opportunities in the first half, but unable to finish very many. With Shane Maloney playing in the center mid, he was able to create some nice opportunities on crosses, as were Austin Hess and TJ Joy. In a nice change of pace for the Vikings, forwards Pedro Pitonez and John Bogue connected on multiple give and goes and flicks in the first half, creating a handful of opportunities on their own. Pitonez scored three goals for the Vikings, with assists coming from Kristian Dalmas and Misael Manzo. John Bogue also scored off of a header from Kyle Adams.

Scoring summary: Pedro Pitonez 3g, John Bogue 1g, Kristian Dalmas 1a, Misael Manzo 1a

The Parkview Viking Varsity beat Nixa 3-1 on Friday night in a great performance on their way to a key District victory. The Viking squad has been struggling a bit this year, but this is a sign that Parkview is moving the right direction still. Nixa came out strong and dominated possession for the first twenty minutes or so, but the second twenty went to the Vikings on their way to two first half goals. Tanner Bennett got the scoring started when he received the ball from Alex Blanco and didn’t bother beating his defender to get the shot off. Bennett struck the ball pass his defender, through the crowd, and inside the post to the keeper’s right. Parkview scored again when Alex Blanco won the ball outside the 18, struck it early, and put it upper-90 for the second goal of the night.

The Vikings took their 2-0 lead into halftime, having given up lead before. Parkview stayed focus right off the bat in the second half, getting a third goal when Jared Moore beat the offside trap by timing it perfectly, and one touched the over the top ball over the on-rushing keeper’s hands. Late in the match, the Eagles were awarded a free kick when a Viking defender clipped an Eagle attacker in the box. Kaleb Romero finished the opportunity to get the Eagle’s on the board.

Scoring summary: Tanner Bennett 1g, Alex Blanco 1g 1a, Jared Moore 1g, Michael Duff 1a (Nixa: Kaleb Romero 1g)

Junior Varsity
Parkview 1
Nixa 2

PHS Scoring Summary: Kevin Daugherty 1g

Parkview picked up a huge win over Cape Central on Saturday, although the Vikings were playing without starting sweeper Dane Knapp or starting center mid Alex Blanco. The Vikings used Michael Duff at sweeper and, and the defense played cleanly to keep the shutout intact (along with a few stellar Jon Malter saves). The first goal came early in the second half when Brian Otradovec flicked a ball over the last defender and Jared Moore ran into the space and knocked it by the on-rushing keeper. The second goal came when Tanner Bennett crashed the net and picked up the trash, rewarded by some hard work from Jordan Houseman. (photo by www.sgfsoccer.com)

The Vikings will see Waynesville, Jopin, and Nixa this week, which should be three great games.

PHS 1, Cape Central 2 (JV)
The Junior Varsity squad lost to Cape Central 1-2. The Parkview boys scored first off of a corner kick by TJ Joy, which found Evan Friese standing on the far post. Friese one touched the ball into the back of the net on a great ‘right-place, right-time’ goal, his first of the season. The Vikings could not hold on, however, and will look to shake up the lineup a bit to bring some focus and consistency onto the field.

PHS 1, Jackson 2
The Vikings Friday game against Jackson was a battle, but Parkview could not hold on to an early lead and lost 1-2. The Vikings took the 1-0 advantage on a Tanner Bennett goal about 5 minutes into the match, and held on to that lead for a good bit of the first half. Late in the first half Jackson scored to tie the match at 1-1, and in the second half they got their second one to go 2-1. Parkview was playing without senior sweeper and captain Dane Knapp.

The Parkview Varsity squad lost 1-2 to the Kickapoo Chiefs on Tuesday night. The Vikings got an early goal from Brian Otradovec on a rebound from the KHS keeper, but the Chiefs were able to get an equalizer before halftime. Senior captain keeper Jon Malter was injured in the first half and had to sit out the last 10 minutes of the half, but Freshmen keeper TJ Joy came in and held down the fort in his absense without giving up a goal. Also in the first half Senior captain center-back Dane Knapp got hit hard in a collision and missed the last 50 minutes of the game. This put the Vikings in a tricky situation with one key player playing injured and another on the bench.

In the second half the Chiefs scored with 15 minutes left to take the 2-1 advantage. This was another tough loss for Parkview, who has played well but lost the majority of their games this season (now 2-7).

Steve Olson was at the game, took a bunch of pictures, and has a nice article about the match on his website www.sgfsoccer.com:

Otradovec benefited from Jordan Houseman’s hard work on the right side, winning a foot race for the ball and sending it back into the box from the endline. It was that type of work, in combination with Jared Moore in the center, that made it hard for the Chief’s to establish any rhythm themselves…

The Newsleader also wrote an article on the game:

As Parkview High School senior goalkeeper Jon Malter made one stellar save after another, Kickapoo senior Skyler Russell had one simple answer in mind: just keep shooting…

The Junior Varsity match was tied with about 9 minutes left before Kickapoo was able to put an opportunity away. Although Pedro Pitonez got a nice look on goal, the keeper saved it and the Chiefs countered to get a second late one and win 2-0 over the Viking JV.