Entering the 2021 season, Nick Harmon was confident his Webb City’s girls soccer team had the pieces in place to put together a stellar spring campaign.
Now 12 games into the schedule, it’s safe to say Harmon’s preseason prediction was correct.
Webb City improved to 10-2 on the season with Tuesday’s 8-0 Central Ozark Conference win over Joplin at the JHS athletic complex.
“The ladies played really well tonight,” Harmon said. “We learned a little bit from the (Parkview) tournament last weekend. We learned that we have to start strong and finish strong. We had some positive takeaways coming into this week and they just continue to execute. We want to play to our full potential for the entirety of the half and I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight.”
Harmon noted his Cardinals returned an experienced group entering the spring, as most of the program’s starters two years ago were sophomores and freshmen. And now, that experience is paying dividends.
“Definitely an experienced group coming back,” Harmon said. “We’re very blessed to have the team we have and the players that we have. We didn’t do well at the jamboree and I think that kind of lit a spark. They’ve come back throughout the rest of the season feeling like they have something to prove.”
One night after earning a 2-1 double overtime win at Cassville, Joplin fell to 4-2 on the season.
“We knew Webb was going to be good,” Joplin coach Josh Thompson said. “We watched film on them and we knew what was coming at us. We just were not prepared. It’s been a weird last couple of days and we have a long week ahead of us, so it’s about being mentally tough from this point out. We didn’t know if half of our girls were going to be ready to go today until 10 minutes before we came out.”
Multiple players got into the act for the Cardinals.
Junior forward Anea Bemo scored two goals and had one assist, while senior forward Haven Stanley also scored twice.
Junior Austyn Mickey, senior Mileah Metcalf and senior Sage Cranford all contributed one goal and one assist apiece. Senior Melia Blair scored a goal and sophomore Cree Vaden handed out one assist.
Webb City scored four unanswered goals in the first half, with Metcalf, Stanley, Blair and Bemo recording one goal apiece. Metcalf’s goal came in the third minute of the contest, giving the visitors a lead they would never relinquish.
The Eagles had two shots on-goal in the first half, as the visitors dominated possession.
Scoring second half goals for Webb City were Mickey, Stanley, Bemo and Cranford.
Mickey started the second-half barrage with a goal in the 48th minute, while Stanley scored one minute later. Bemo’s second goal of the night came in the 51st minute.
Cranford’s goal came in the 61st minute and ended the game due to the “run-rule.”
Webb City goalkeeper Delaney Duke made two saves and didn’t have a very busy night.
“She wasn’t involved a whole lot, but we would like it to be that way,” Harmon said. “That’s a good night for us if she’s not having to do a whole lot.”
Joplin goalie Reece Schroer, who was under constant pressure, made eight saves. Thompson gave Schroer credit for doing her best against a solid opponent.
“She had a penalty save in overtime last night, so I think her confidence was high coming into today, but they knew where to place the ball on her,” Thompson said. “(Webb City) did a good job of making us uncomfortable. We didn’t look comfortable for one second.”
Joplin hosts Branson on Thursday, while Webb City hosts Ozark on Thursday.
