The night started with one celebration and ended with another for the Republic soccer team Thursday night. The Lady Tigers began the evening with a celebration of their seniors — McKena Argo, Aylora Crowe, Samantha Jaquess, and Ella Lee. They ended the evening with a more boisterous celebration after a late goal by Molly Blades delivered a 1-0 victory over Carl Junction.
For most of the night, Republic and Carl Junction collided up and down the field in a physical match dominated by the defenses. Both goalkeepers — Awbree Berning of Republic and Chrissy Figueroa of Carl Junction — played well. Carl Junction had allowed less than one goal per game through its 15 matches before Thursday, racking up a 14-1 record.
Republic’s attack got stronger as the game went on. The Lady Tigers pressed their advantage and had several solid crosses that failed to connect in the second half before Molly Blades finally scored the only goal of the night. She fired home a rocket from about 25 yards out, crossing the goal from right to left, past Figueroa and into the side of net. It was the only goal Republic would need to hand Carl Junction its second loss.
After the match, first-year head coach Jesus Zuniga praised his four seniors for the attitude they’ve contributed to the team.
“Their leadership has been phenomenal. I’m a huge person on ‘actions-speak-louder-than-words,'” he said. “Whenever you have seniors who have a huge workload, who have honors courses and everything, then they’re still showing up to help out at their church, they’re showing up to help out (youth soccer program) Tiger Kicks, the future of what we’re doing is all because of their buy-in. The underclassmen see it.”
Republic improved to 4-2 in the Central Ozark Conference and 7-8 overall. The Lady Tigers have won five of their last six matches and travel to Jefferson City for two matches in the Jeff City Shootout Friday and Saturday.