Cassville girls varsity soccer goes 1-2 in Fair Grove Shootout
March 20, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville High School recently made girls’ soccer a varsity sport for the first time in the school district’s history. After months of grueling recruiting and practice, Cassville Soccer Coach Jake Forste assembled what he considers to be the strongest team possible. Last weekend, March 15 and 16, that theory was put to the test when Forste’s girls played their first three games in the Fair Grove Shootout tournament.
“I’m impressed with our resilience and our ability to fight through adversity and go toe-to-toe with some of the better teams around here,” said Forste when asked about the team’s performance.
The tournament opened with a rocky start for Cassville. According to Forste, several outside factors contributed for a tough game but, remained proud of his team’s performance in their first game against Marionville on Friday, March 15.
“We were missing four starters, despite that it was 0-0 at the half and that was with a 40 mile an hour wind against us,” explained Forste. “So, with such a strong team and playing against the wind, I was really happy with how we played in the first half.”
Despite a strong defensive effort in the first half, Marionville was able to wear down Cassville’s defense in the final 15 minutes of play to score two goals for the win. Forste is optimistic for the next meeting of the two teams.
“We were pretty resilient, especially in that first half,” said Forste. “Overall, I think we played a really good game. We’ll see them again in a week or two and I’m pretty confident that with a full team we can go there and win.”
Cassville will play Marshfield again on Thursday, March 28, at Marshfield.
The Cassville team went on to play Monett in the second game of the tournament on Saturday, March 16. The Cassville defense once again proved strong for a majority of the game with a single Cassville goal keeping the score at 1 - 0 for the majority of play. Unfortunately for Cassville, a penalty kick called against one of their players allowed Monett to tie the score.
“We had an unfortunate call go against us for a penalty kick with three minutes left in the game,” said Forste. “They scored on the penalty kick to take it into overtime.”
The Cassville defense was able to keep the team afloat through two overtime periods. They would however, ultimately fall to Monett in a final penalty kick shootout that brought the score to 1-2.
Picking themselves up after a second loss in the final moments of play, Cassville regrouped to play Laquey a mere 30 minutes later. Despite little recovery time and a pair of devastating series of last-minute losses, the Cassville team managed to find a rhythm in their final game of the tournament
“We played well throughout,” said Forste. “We controlled the game and really moved the ball well. We had good clean possessions.”
Forste was pleased with his team’s performance during their first series of games. Despite a litany of external factors that put the team’s backs to the wall, he feels as though they came out on top and showed just how resilient and resourceful his players can be.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with our performance,” explained Forste. “We played three strong teams and ended the weekend with three goals scored and four allowed. Our goal is to compete in every game and so far, I think we’ve done that.”
Cassville’s scorers for the Fair Grove Shootout were: Kamryn Jaques, two goals, one assist; Jazmin Augirre, one goal; Juliette Okel, one assist; and Jhandi Shears, one assist.
Cassville girls varsity soccer’s next game is also their first home game. They will play this Friday, March 22, against New Covenant Academy.
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville High School recently made girls’ soccer a varsity sport for the first time in the school district’s history. After months of grueling recruiting and practice, Cassville Soccer Coach Jake Forste assembled what he considers to be the strongest team possible. Last weekend, March 15 and 16, that theory was put to the test when Forste’s girls played their first three games in the Fair Grove Shootout tournament.
“I’m impressed with our resilience and our ability to fight through adversity and go toe-to-toe with some of the better teams around here,” said Forste when asked about the team’s performance.
The tournament opened with a rocky start for Cassville. According to Forste, several outside factors contributed for a tough game but, remained proud of his team’s performance in their first game against Marionville on Friday, March 15.
“We were missing four starters, despite that it was 0-0 at the half and that was with a 40 mile an hour wind against us,” explained Forste. “So, with such a strong team and playing against the wind, I was really happy with how we played in the first half.”
Despite a strong defensive effort in the first half, Marionville was able to wear down Cassville’s defense in the final 15 minutes of play to score two goals for the win. Forste is optimistic for the next meeting of the two teams.
“We were pretty resilient, especially in that first half,” said Forste. “Overall, I think we played a really good game. We’ll see them again in a week or two and I’m pretty confident that with a full team we can go there and win.”
Cassville will play Marshfield again on Thursday, March 28, at Marshfield.
The Cassville team went on to play Monett in the second game of the tournament on Saturday, March 16. The Cassville defense once again proved strong for a majority of the game with a single Cassville goal keeping the score at 1 - 0 for the majority of play. Unfortunately for Cassville, a penalty kick called against one of their players allowed Monett to tie the score.
“We had an unfortunate call go against us for a penalty kick with three minutes left in the game,” said Forste. “They scored on the penalty kick to take it into overtime.”
The Cassville defense was able to keep the team afloat through two overtime periods. They would however, ultimately fall to Monett in a final penalty kick shootout that brought the score to 1-2.
Picking themselves up after a second loss in the final moments of play, Cassville regrouped to play Laquey a mere 30 minutes later. Despite little recovery time and a pair of devastating series of last-minute losses, the Cassville team managed to find a rhythm in their final game of the tournament
“We played well throughout,” said Forste. “We controlled the game and really moved the ball well. We had good clean possessions.”
Forste was pleased with his team’s performance during their first series of games. Despite a litany of external factors that put the team’s backs to the wall, he feels as though they came out on top and showed just how resilient and resourceful his players can be.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with our performance,” explained Forste. “We played three strong teams and ended the weekend with three goals scored and four allowed. Our goal is to compete in every game and so far, I think we’ve done that.”
Cassville’s scorers for the Fair Grove Shootout were: Kamryn Jaques, two goals, one assist; Jazmin Augirre, one goal; Juliette Okel, one assist; and Jhandi Shears, one assist.
Cassville girls varsity soccer’s next game is also their first home game. They will play this Friday, March 22, against New Covenant Academy.
