Ozark is three matches into its season and has yet to taste defeat, even without standout midfielder Jose Ortega netting his first goal.
“Jose is going to get all the attention. He can’t do everything,” forward Ethan Peeples said. “We have to rally around him.”
With Republic focusing its defensive efforts on Ortega, Ozark received a goal apiece from Caleb Sandgren, Ethan Peeples and Declan Cummings in a 3-1 COC-opening triumph Tuesday.
Over the weekend, Ortega’s younger brother, Adrian, posted all three Ozark goals in a win over Webster Groves and a tie with Chaminade.
“Jose is going to get his goals. As soon as he does, we become that much more dangerous,” coach Zack Owens said.
Ozark was explosive at Republic, scoring three times over a 16-minute stretch in the second half to erase a 1-0 deficit.
The play of the night was turned in by Peeples and defender Emilio Velasco. Velasco sent a pass across the field directly to Peeples, who drilled his goal into the net.
“With Emilio’s great ball he sent me, I thought, ‘I’m going to have to whip my hips around it and hit it. Thankfully, I hit it right and didn’t sky it over,” Peeples said.
“We talked about our wings being open and trying to show width in our attack. That was a perfect example of us netting a goal from it,” Owens said. “We were trying to get crosses sent back and find that back-side switch. Ethan was right there. We told him to start cheating in a little bit because we thought he had a lesser talented player that was marking him.”
Not coincidentally, Peeples went to his left foot and ‘laced’ the kick.
“I’m right-handed, but I’m left-dominated kicking,” Peeples said. “It’s a fluke thing. I’ve always been left-footed. I also like kicking off my laces and I’ve always loved volleys, even when I haven’t been the best at them.”
Velasco’s kick initially looked as though it was headed to Renato Granja.
“‘Rena’ was about to head it and I said, Leave it’ and I stepped up and laced through it,” Peeples said.
Caleb Sandgren started Ozark’s scoring with a goal in the box off an assist from Granja.
“I shifted to the right-side back corner and Renato sent a great ball right over the top right to my feet,” Sandgren said. “All I had to do was slide it in.”
“That was a ‘hustle goal’ right there,” Owens said. “A lot of times I talk that in our offensive third, especially in the box, those goals aren’t pretty, but they are hustle goals. He’s a good one for that.”
Cummings capped Ozark’s scoring and goalkeeper Trevor Carlton shut out Republic over the second half.
The second half was a complete contrast to the first half, which Republic controlled.
“We were a little sloppy in the first half and were lucky to get out of there only down by a goal,” Owens said. “We made changes in our mindset at halftime. It showed over the final 40 minutes.”
“We came out flat-footed,” defender Quinten Milligan said. “Part of our problem last season was playing to the level of our opponent. Over the weekend, we played up to the level of Chaminade and Webster Groves. We came in here tonight not ready. But after a great halftime talk by coach, we got the job done.”
