Ozark's jamboree back in August served its purpose if for no other reason than to give the Tigers a good idea where Caleb Lepant would be the best fit.
In Ozark's first jamboree half of the night, Lapant had a flurry of shots on goal, at least a handful by coach Zack Owens' memory. Alas, Lepant had no goals.
"After that, I think Zack saw me more as a midfielder," Lepant said. "Goals weren't coming for me at striker."
With Lapant serving as a playmaker rather than a closer, Ozark (14-4 overall and 6-0 in the COC) is averaging 3.45 goals a match entering its home contest with Carthage tonight.
"He's getting assists and making good plays for us," Owens said. "He's controlling the midfield. His scoring has been here and there. Would we like to have him score more? Absolutely. But he's found a role as a leader in other spots for us and it's been very beneficial."
For Lepant, it's been a win-win. He's helped Ozark's offense as a midfielder and he prefers to be in position to have the ball at his feet as often as possible.
"I think (midfielder) fits me more," he said. "I get more touches on the ball. Up top, it's a lot of ball-hawking. At midfield, you get the ball a lot more. I fall in and out of form. But I've found my form in the midfield."
Lepant is in third season as a midfielder.
"My freshman year I moved up top," he said. "Goals kind of slowed down and my technical ability went up, so I got moved to the midfield. I enjoy scoring, but the midfield facilitating is really fun for me, too.'
Owens has enough confidence in Lepant's versatility that he feels he could shine at multiple positions.
"We can move him around. We play him up top and at the center-mid," Owens said. "Honestly, he's a kid we could probably play anywhere, even goalie funny enough."
"I play wing for club ball and I played 'keeper indoors once just for fun," Lepant said. "I wasn't horrible, but it's not my position. I have never really played defense."
Even as a junior, Lepant is being looked upon as a leader for Ozark, much like midfielder/forward Adrian Ortega and goalkeeper Trevor Carlton.
"Being one of only two sophomores on the varsity last year, I stepped up into that role this year," Lepant said. "Having more varsity experience, you kind of fall into that."
