The Lady Tigers soccer team came out tentative, made two defensive mistakes in the first half, and couldn’t climb out of the hole in a 2-1 loss at home to Bolivar Thursday. The Liberators scored just 90 seconds into the game, and tacked on their second goal with 22 minutes left in the 1st half.
Coach Kevin Hauck says the Lady Tigers had played with good energy despite losing to Nixa ont he road earlier this week, but Thursday’s effort was different.
“We’ve changed up some stuff in warm-ups to come out faster and more aggressive. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t one of those nights. We just didn’t have the energy,” Hauck says. “We made two early mistakes and had a slow start, and that’s what cost us.”
Hauck made halftime adjustments to push Republic into a more aggressive style in the second half, and he says it paid off — just too little, too late.
“I thought the 2nd half was a really good half for us. We decided to put some more pressure up top. Besides one girl, they really weren’t hurting us back on the back, so we were able to put some pressure on them,” he says. “We got a good goal. We got a lot of energy off of it. (But) connecting passes has been an issue lately. It definitely showed there when we were trying to attack.”
Republic’s only goal came with about 22 minutes remaining when Anna Jones fed Emily Jordan for a score. Republic threatened again a few times, but never got another solid look at the goal down the stretch.
Republic falls to 8-7. They’ll be back at home for a key COC and district matchup against Willard next Tuesday.