The Joplin Eagles’ aggressiveness on the offensive end finally paid dividends with three second-half goals on their way to a 4-1 win against the visiting Neosho Wildcats in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday at Joplin High School.
Joplin senior midfielder Paisley Parker scored all four Eagle goals for a haul (a lesser known relative of the hat trick), while Neosho junior Eva Maldonado scored her first goal of the season and the Wildcats’ only goal Tuesday on a penalty kick that cut Neosho’s deficit to 2-1 with 33 minutes and 25 seconds remaining in regulation.
“We for sure put a lot of pressure on goal,” Joplin coach Josh Thompson said. “Their keeper made some good saves, and we did a good job of giving ourselves scoring opportunities tonight. … Our halftime talk was I think what we’re doing is working, we’ve got to be persistent and keep firing off shots and we’re going to be able to get some of those in.”
“We made improvements in every area that we talked with them about making improvements on,” Neosho coach Steve Schnackenberg said. “We had some breakdowns, and the Joplin girls took advantage of them. We were in the game right until the end. I thought we played hard, and they capitalized on a few of our mistakes. The improvements are coming, and that’s what we can do. We’ve got girls playing next to each other that haven’t played before together, so we’re still getting that stuff sorted out and the more opportunities that we have the better we’re going to see them play.”
Parker became the center of the post-win celebration for the Eagles on Tuesday.
“I brought out a hat I owed her for hat tricks in the past,” Thompson said. “Maybe it was good motivation tonight and so maybe that’s our good luck charm, I’ll start bringing hat trick hats.”
Neosho sophomore goalkeeper Yaretzl Parker and the Wildcats defense limited Joplin to a 1-0 halftime lead and Paisley Parker’s first goal occurred in the first three minutes of the match.
“We just had a really hard time getting the ball out on defense,” Schnackenberg said. “Yaretzl did a nice job in goal and made some great saves. I thought our defense was pretty solid. We just couldn’t get the ball out, so I think we’ve got an idea of what we can do to take care of it.”
Maldonado’s goal provided the Wildcats their greatest moment for hope on Tuesday.
“It was a good moment,” Schnackenberg said. “It was her first PK, I know that, and she hit it well. She’s been hitting them in practice really well. It was good to get her on the score sheet.”
Joplin improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 COC, and the Eagles are back in action Friday and Saturday in the Branson Invitational.
“First conference win and then a district win for us as well,” Thompson said. “It ought to be good motivation for us going forward and it helps us at the end of the season.”
Neosho dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-1 COC, and the Wildcats hit the road Thursday for a conference match with Ozark and then play Friday and Saturday in the Willard Tournament.
