Spring soccer season will kick off this weekend with ND tournament

Cold weather and rain have put a damper on the start of the spring sports schedule, but area girls soccer fans should be in for a treat this weekend with the annual Noon Optimist Soccer Tournament beginning play Thursday at Notre Dame.

The tournament includes the entire local girls soccer scene with Notre Dame, Central, Jackson, St. Vincent, Perryville, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Farmington in the field. Marion is the only out-of-state squad.

Opening-round games include Perryville versus Sikeston, Notre Dame versus Marion, St. Vincent versus Poplar Bluff and Central versus Farmington. All first-round games will be played on Thursday.

"You get to see where everyone's at right from the beginning," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "It really gets it kicked off. I just wish the weather was a little better."

The semifinals will be played at 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday, with the finals set for 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Weather played havoc on the tournament last year, and the recent round of rain and cold weather has not been kind to Notre Dame's fields.

"We're hopeful to start on Thursday," Worley said. "We can't afford to have any more precipitation."

SEMO all-conference

Jackson senior Bobbie Jones earned the Bob Gray award as the SEMO Conference girls player of the year on Tuesday at the Poplar Bluff Letter Club.

Jones helped the Indians to a district title this season and averaged more than 15 points a game as Jackson finished 22-5.

Fellow senior Kylie Werner also earned first-team all-conference honors for the Indians.

Notre Dame junior Kristain Burger earned first-team all-conference honors. Meridith Medlin, a junior, earned second-team honors from Notre Dame. Central freshman Wendi Zickfield made the second team.

Jackson coach Sam Sides was the coach of the year on the girls side.

On the boys side, Notre Dame had two first-team members with senior Alex Ressel and sophomore Ryan Willen. Senior guard Xavier Delph made the second team from Notre Dame.

Central junior Darnell Wilks and Jackson senior Aaron Redecker were also first-team members.

Jackson senior Kyle Pridemore, sophomore Hunter Grantham and Central senior David Deisher were all second-team members.

Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield was the coach of the year, and Poplar Bluff senior Ben Hansbrough was the John Gibbs Award winner as the boys player of the year.

Keener signs with Lindenwood

Central senior Thomas Keener signed a letter of intent with Lindenwood University to play soccer next year for the NAIA school out of St. Charles, Mo.

Keener was an all-conference and all-region defender for the Tigers this past season. Central finished 22-6-1 last season and made it to the quarterfinal round before bowing out to Vianney.

LaForest signs with Dana College

Jackson senior Josh LaForest has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Dana College, an NAIA school in Blair, Neb.

LaForest, a second-team all-conference defender, helped the Indians reach the district finals last season before falling to rival Central.

College notes

* Shawnee High school graduate Doug Taylor, brother of Southeast Missouri State pitcher Mike Taylor, will try to help Southern Illinois Edwardsville unseat the defending NCAA Division II national champion today when the Cougars take on Virginia Union in the Elite Eight of the men's basketball tournament. Taylor, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, has been a regular starter this season, averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds. Ryan Belcher, who played for Southeast last season, is averaging 10.8 points a game as a starter for Edwardsville.