It was a night to remember for the Republic Lady Tigers, as they celebrated their seniors with a dominant 7-1 win over Neosho, improving their record to an impressive 15-6 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
Before the game, Republic honored nine seniors: Molly Blades, Ava Brown, Cameron Burton, Brooklyn Claxton, Alivia Coleman, Callie Jaquess, Kendra Phiri, Briley Place, and Liberty Redmon. The team’s senior co-captains—Brown, Claxton, and Blades—talked about their Senior Night experience after the win.
“It feels really, really good, especially because we have so many seniors,” said Brown.
Claxton added, “I think it’s weird, but also it’s not our last home game, so it hasn’t really hit completely yet, because we do have districts at home. It’s like it hasn’t really set in yet.”
“A little surreal,” Blades chimed in about playing her last regular-season home match.
The seniors led the charge on the field, with Blades scoring a hat trick in the first half and Brown adding a goal of her own in the second half. Republic also got two first-half goals from Cadence Lugar and one in the second half from Kaylee Cornelsen. The team’s chemistry was evident, indicative of the bond the players have built over multiple seasons of playing varsity soccer.
“It’s been the same group since sophomore year, the same starters, so we have that chemistry now, which is why we’re able to get our success, and I think that’s the funnest part,” said Brown, reflecting on the most enjoyable aspects of the season.
Claxton shared a similar sentiment, saying, “I think seeing everyone come together more as a team this year, because we have most of the same people, and just seeing us all work better together has been really fun.”
Blades agreed that the team has made a lot of progress over the past three seasons. “I think especially since our freshman year, this has definitely been the most prevalent season that we’ve had, especially with our wins and our losses. This is the cleanest season we’ve had, so I think it’s great. Especially coming off our sophomore year, seeing the buildup from year to year, it’s been amazing to be a part of, and I’m very proud of each and every single one of us.”
The Lady Tigers had been 4-4 before reeling off 10 straight wins. Their success has been less surprising to the players as the year has gone on. “Even those four losses, we know we could have won those games,” said Claxton. “We’re just taking every game seriously, even if we think an opponent may not be as good. We knew we could do it, it’s just actually putting the work in.”
As the regular season comes to a close and districts approach, the Lady Tigers remain confident after a close loss to state-ranked Nixa earlier this week. “I feel really good, considering Nixa is third in state. That’s pretty impressive that we were able to hang with them, and we’ll be seeing them again,” said Brown.
“Now when we play them again, it’s not like we have to beat them again,” Claxton added. “The pressure is still on them, but we know we can do it.”
Republic will close the regular season with a match at Ozark next week.
