This past weekend, the Fair Grove girls’ soccer team took 2nd place in the Fair Grove Invitational Tournament. The tournament was jointly-hosted by Fair Grove and Marshfield, with games played on Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st. On Friday, the Lady Eagles played Stover and beat the Lady Bulldogs 1-0 in overtime courtesy of a Jordan Robertson’ winner. Since the victory on Friday, the girls would go on to play on Saturday at 8:00 AM against Monett. The Lady Eagles would win for a second time, 4-1. Robertson would score her first hat trick of the season (three or more goals in one game). Haileigh Houston, a junior, would also go on to score her first goal of the season. With two wins in the tournament, the girls would only need one more victory to win the tournament title, just had they did last season. In the championship game, the girls would take on the Branson Lady Pirates. Fair Grove fell 3-1, with Robertson scoring a goal in the final minutes  and her fifth goal of the tournament.

“I feel like we competed and played well as a team. It was only our first three games and there’s plenty more, so I’m excited to see where we are going to be in two or three weeks,” says Robertson. “We won two games, and lost the final. But, we bounce back fast and are preparing for our next game,” states Robertson.

The tournament was also memorable for some players, who made their Fair Grove soccer debut in the games. Junior Ciera Lenox played her first games for Fair Grove, playing some time around the defense. Sophomore Autumn Wilson played in goal for the entire tournament, taking the place in between the posts for the injured Claire Foster.

Wilson says she was very nervous playing her first game(s) in goal, but the nerves went away as the game progressed. “It was very exciting, but very scary. It was a lot of action in goal.” She also says the tournament went well as a whole and the team played great even though some conditions weren’t ideal. Wilson also says, “Over the next games, we need to improve as a team and communicate better, but getting 2nd in the tournament and winning two of our first three games is awesome!”

The next girls’ home game is April 2nd against Monett.