By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
Carthage and Kickapoo will be meeting tonight for the first time this soccer season when they clash in the first round of the MSHSAA Class 3 playoffs.
Carthage, which lost to eventual state runner-up Glendale at this juncture of the 2008 campaign, and Kickapoo have respective records of 17-5 and 18-7 entering the 6:30 p.m. match in Springfield at the Cooper Sports Complex.
The winner advances to a 1 p.m. match on Saturday at Waynesville against the survivor of tonight’s outing between Camdenton (16-2-1) and Columbia Hickman (12-8-2) at Jefferson City.
Carthage beat Joplin on its field 1-0 in two overtimes for District 12 supremacy last Thursday night and Kickapoo, a night later, stopped Glendale 1-0 for the District 11 crown at Ozark.
Kickapoo, coached by Phil Hodge, ousted the Falcons on senior Ian Kennedy’s goal with less than seven minutes remaining.
Said Carthage coach Jacob Osborne: “We haven’t met since the final of the Christian County Shootout last season and I believe they won 1-0. I’m familiar with a couple of their players.
“We expect a typical Kickapoo team,” Osborne said. “All of its players on the field should be skilled. A lot of them are on club teams in the summer.”
Carthage will have three seniors in its probable lineup, Osborne said. They are Juan Ortiz, Matt Robinson and Franklin Reyes.
Osborne said that Misael Maturino, a freshman, will be making his first varsity start as a defender with junior Wilky Ordonez, Ortiz and Robinson.
The midfielders will be junior Mark Navarette, sophomores Cesar Aguirre and Walter Avalos and freshman Victor Lopez.
Reyes and junior Joe Curti are the strikers.
Arnold Ferrera, a sophomore, is the goalie in place of injured classmate Ludin Gonzales (broken hand).
“We’ve had several young players step up,” Osborne said. “The starting seniors have been huge and the ones who don’t start — Santiago Gonzalez, Kevin Perdomo and Danny Welch — have contributed and are reliable off the bench.”
Osborne, who’s assisted by Nick Pfeifer, is in his first season as head coach.
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Tigers, Kickapoo to clash tonight in soccer playoffs
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