The ghosts of seasons past didn’t bother the West Plains Lady Zizzers soccer team Monday, as they defeated the Rolla Bulldogs 3-0 in front of a home crowd at Zizzer Stadium.
For years, Rolla had been a problem that never quite went away — with scores like 5-1, 6-2 and even the occasional 10-0 loss etched into memory. So when the Zizzers took the field, Head Coach Jessica Ball knew exactly what kind of fight was coming.
They just chose not to wait around for it.
“We knew it was going to be tough, so we had to mentally prepare to play,” Ball said. “We didn’t wait to see what Rolla was going to do — we made it happen for ourselves.”
And they did, emphatically. Abigail Mongillo struck twice, including one goal set up by Maren Thompson, while Addison Talburt added another, also assisted by Thompson, to power West Plains to the win.
“I felt the girls came out strong from the very beginning,” Ball said. “After the first goal, they realized just how much they are capable of.”
West Plains pressed, attacked and dictated play, leaning into a confidence that had been building since the team's victory over Mtn. View-Birch Tree Liberty just days earlier.
“The win over Mtn. View gave them the confidence and belief that as a unit they could make a lot happen,” Ball said.
By the second half, the script could have flipped. Often, an underdog with a lead gets cautious and just tries to survive, but the Lady Zizzers did the opposite.
“They could’ve been satisfied just hanging on,” Ball said. “But instead, they came out even stronger.”
The Zizzers pushed forward with urgency, kept applying pressure and refused to let the game drift. The offensive surge reflected weeks of work finally breaking through.
“We’ve been working on movement off the ball and passing to find openings,” Ball said. “This was the most aggressive we have come out offensively.”
“Their identity isn’t defined by expectations,” she added. “It’s defined by how they play all the way through.”
Behind it all, Lady Zizzers goalkeeper Addison Colbert made sure nothing slipped. Her biggest moment came on a penalty kick, where she turned away a point-blank chance, keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.
The rest of the field followed suit. Ball praised midfielders Jasmine Tackitt and Abby Mourreale for aggressive transitions and sharp passing that fueled the attack. Defenders Abby Jacobs, Cienna Perez, Aubree Hugg and Adie Dupler held firm, controlling their half and trusting one another.
“They stepped into the game ready to play and didn’t back down,” Ball said. “They just played and trusted each other.”
The junior varsity squad's game preceded the varsity, and the girls threw down with a breakout of their own. Emily Dalton opened scoring off an assist from Abigail Yarber, while Addison Rowland netted twice, once off an assist from Alena Branch. Yarber added a penalty kick, and Branch scored off an assist from Hailee Ellison.
For Ball, the symmetry between varsity and JV wasn’t coincidence, but confirmation.
“It all just finally clicked,” she said.
Hard-Fought Shootout Win
The offensive spark against Rolla was ignited by a grueling victory just days prior.
The Lady Zizzers defeated the Liberty Lady Eagles 5-4 on April 9 at Mtn. View, but the winning final line came only after regulation, double overtime and a penalty shootout.
The breakthrough came early when West Plains found a clean connection in the attacking third. Talburt finished a chance off a ball from Mongillo in the first half, giving the Zizzers the lead. But the match never settled; opportunities came and went, and West Plains couldn’t quite put the game away despite stretches of promising play.
Ball said the win reflected both the progress and the frustration that had been building through the early-season grind.
“I think we played really well. We stepped when we needed to and had some great defending,” Ball said. “Offensively, we had some really great passing moments happen, which is something we have been working on at practice. We now just need to capitalize and finish on those moments.”
By the end of the game plus two overtimes, nothing had separated the teams beyond that early goal. The match rolled into penalty kicks, a place where recent experience started to matter. West Plains had just come off a double-overtime shootout loss earlier in the week, and that familiarity with the moment showed.
“Most of our games have been pretty close, so we are used to those high-pressure moments,” Ball said. “Coming off a double overtime and PKs that we lost to on Monday, we knew what we needed to do differently with our PK shots, and I’m proud of the girls for following through under pressure on that.”
In the shootout, West Plains delivered. Mourreale, Mongillo, Colbert and Thompson all converted their penalty kicks, while Colbert also came up big in goal with key saves that swung the outcome.
“We’ve been putting in lots of work and working through problems, and it was great to see the girls get a moment to celebrate all of that,” Ball said.
“These girls are working hard and keep raising their level of play,” she added, commending the team’s persistence. “I am very proud of them for the effort that I keep asking from them.”
