Poplar Bluff’s Pizza Inn soccer team won its first-ever Ozark Soccer League championship, facing an undefeated team that beat them twice during the regular season, 6-3 and 5-0. “We were ecstatic,” said Ozark Soccer League head coach Jake Lampe. “We’ve coached them since they were little. To be honest, they weren’t much, but they were gradually getting better and better. I’ve heard that in third and fourth grade, they make strides, and I didn’t really believe it too much. To see where we came from to it, they have made extreme improvements.” According to Lampe, the team was in second place during the regular season. During the first game of the season, they were winning 2-1, and the game got tied with 30 seconds left. In another game, they won 1-0, scoring a long goal with about 60 seconds left. During the championship match, OSL went up 1-0, which was followed by three goals from their opponent, making it a 3-1 game. Just before halftime, Aaron Slayer was able to make it a one-point game, 3-2. “I told the kids at halftime this is exactly where I want them,” Lampe said. “We got speed upfront, we shored up the defense. We’re going to be on them the rest of the game.” With about five minutes to go in regulation, OSL was able to tie the game at three goals apiece. “After that goal, I asked them, Can you feel it?” Lempe added. “At that time, I felt the team was going to run through a brick wall for me. I know I felt like I could have.” Regulation came to an end with a tie score, which forced a shootout. OSL came away victorious during the shootout when G and C Brawley Cason Trucking’s player kicked the ball and missed, giving OSL their championship. “We had made it to the championship before but lost,” Lampe said. “Not this time. It was a heck of a season, hard fought, and super fun.” Looking ahead, Lampe is excited about the future of the program with returning kids and looks forward to new faces in the program. “From the first practice to the last game, did I see improvements? And I for sure did,” he said. “I always think no matter how good or bad you are, everyone can give 100% effort. Even though we’ve won and I’ve seen some strides, there are some players that I really think have a shot to be good, and so those players, I send some stuff for them to work on to kind of get some muscle memory with that ball control. So that’s what I hope.”.
https://www.darnews.com/sports/osls-pizza-inn-wins-first-championship-5b4c6eb3
OSL’s Pizza Inn wins first championship
