Waynesville High School girls’ soccer fans want to see Mike Gow win a whole lot of games.
But not until next season.
Gow, the current head coach at Lebanon who has been hired to coach the WHS Lady Tigers next school year, burned his future team on Tuesday, leading the fourth-seeded host Lady Yellow Jackets to a 3-2 upset victory over top-seeded Waynesville in the semifinals of the Missouri Class 2 District 11 Tournament, held at the Lebanon High School field.
In the other semifinal game on Tuesday second-seeded Springfield Glendale clipped third-seeded Rolla 2-1.
The district title game between Lebanon and Glendale is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, with the winner advancing to Class 2 Sectional action.
Waynesville, which was trying to gain its first-ever berth to a district championship, ends the season with a 17-5 record.
Lebanon, now 15-9-1, tallied three goals in the second half to come from behind.
The Tigers, playing with a stiff wind to their backs in the first half, could score just one goal before intermission, as senior midfielder Lauren Kelly scored off an assist from senior forward Katie Pritchard.
That 1-0 score stood at halftime and until early in the second half, when Lebanon’s junior midfielder Cassie Wood scored the tying goal off assists from Chelsea LeFors and Ashley Shockley.
A few minutes later WHS regained the lead when junior midfielder Erica Combs headed in a goal in front of the net off an assist by junior Orielle Thomas.
However, 19 minutes into the second half Lebanon struck again, as junior Callie Beard got a ball past Lady Tiger goalie Crystal Hutchinson to tie things up.
Lebanon got the game-winner with 12 minutes left in regulation, as Wood scored on a cross off a header.
The final 10 minutes Waynesville frantically attempted to tie things back up, and had several strong opportunities. However, it didn’t happen.
And in the final seconds of the game Hutchinson suffered a shin injury. She had to be carried from the field and taken to a Lebanon hospital.
“We needed to score more than one (goal) with the wind,” said WHS head coach Josh Scott, who resigns his teaching and coaching duties after this school year to become Waynesville High Athletic Director. “Lebanon is a good team; they deserve all the credit in the world.
“We had a couple of mental lapses. They shouldn’t have made their second goal; we should have never have let them have the shot. It’s a very disappointing way for the season to end. But that’s soccer; you’ve got to come to play 80 minutes. If you don’t play 80 minutes, you go home.”