Thursday November 11 at 6:00 p.m. is our banquet.  It will be at First Baptist Church, 525 South Street.  Please RSVP to Gail by Friday. mgs1124@yahoo.com or 869-2536.  Players will need to bring their clean uniforms and bags to the banquet.  Cost is $5 per person except senior players come at no charge.

We’ve been involved in Parkview soccer now for seven consecutive years and have always been strongly supportive of players and coaches. We’ve seen the program win the conference but recently suffer through two losing seasons in a row.  We’ve seen both our kids enjoy the sport and grow as athletes and people.  While I’m concerned that the program may be heading in the wrong direction, I believe it can be turned around.  Seven of the 12 players who played their hearts out against Ozark return next year including an outstanding goal keeper and the leading scorer.  More will be required to bring home a winning record; however.  Coaches, students and parents need to work hard to improve.  I think that includes playing all year, summer camp, conditioning harder (yes–running a lot!), and making next year’s team a number one priority above other activities by all parties.  Doing those things can bring the Vikings back to relevance. Good luck next year–we’ll still be rooting for you–but Gail will no longer be running concessions–ha!

The Vikings played some of their best soccer Saturday night, but ultimately fell to the Tigers 3-1 on two late Ozark goals.  Ozark led 1-0 at half but a strong Parkview goal by Brian Otradovec early in the second half tied the game.  It stayed that way until minute 78 when Ozark scored to take the lead.  Ozark also got an insurance goal with about 3 minutes to go in the game.  A group of 12 Viking players played a hard and selfless game, logging almost all playing time: Evin Barber, Joe Fairchild, Jon Bogue, Austin Hess, T.J. Joy, Shane Maloney, Jim Smart, Alex Blanco, Louis Taylor, Blake White, Jordan Houseman, and Brian Otradovec.  Nice job, men!

Parkview closed out the regular season with a 4-2 victory on the road in Neosho Tuesday night. Jordan Houseman started the scoring on a nice assist from Brian Otradovec.  The second goal came on a corner kick from Blake White to Aiden Griffin, his first varsity goal!  The game seemed well in hand, but Neosho narrowed the lead to 2-1 before half-time, and then scored the first goal of the second half to knot the game at 2-2. Parkview then upped the intensity for the remaining 20 minutes of the game, dominating possession and getting two late goals, one from Otradovec and one from Houseman with 2:43 left to seal the victory.  This win left the Vikings with a regular season record of 11-12, which is two more wins than was achieved last year.  The junior varsity squad tied Neosho 1-1.  Alex Holden scored for the Vikings who gave up a late goal after leaving two of their opponent’s players uncovered in front of the goal.  The next game for the Varsity is Saturday night at Cooper where the Vikings are paired against Ozark in the first round of district play.  Go Vikings–leave it all on the field and bring home a win.