CARTHAGE - The Class 4 District 5 Tournament opened at Haffner Stadium on Saturday and saw the #6 seeded Carthage Tigers matched up vs. the #3 seeded Ozark Tigers. The match would be the second game the two teams played in less than a week. Earlier in the week, CHS earned a 2-0 win at Ozark.
Carthage opened scoring at the 11' mark when
Adrian Garrido scored, assisted by
Luis Mejia. No more scoring would occur as the blue Tigers held a 1-0 lead going into halftime.Â
The two teams traded scoring attempts through the second half but it wasn't until Jose Montez pushed in two goals for Ozark giving them a 2-1 lead, the latter goal at the 79' of the game. Carthage mounted a steady attack as the game neared its end and with under three minutes left in the game, Henry Hernandes found the back of the net for Carthage, assisted by
Welle Welle, to tie the game 2-2.Â
The game moved to the first period of sudden victory. At the 3' mark of the overtime,
Walter Mejia found Welle who made no mistake burying the Golden Goal giving the Tigers a 3-2 OT win over Ozark. In net for Carthage was Isaias Tello who earned the win while standing tall making several big saves keeping Ozark at bay.Â
The win advances Carthage to the semifinals match on Tuesday where they will play #2 seeded Nixa at 7:00. Nixa won their first round game vs. Central 3-0. The 5:00 semifinal game on Tuesday will match top seeded Kickapoo vs. Joplin. Kickapoo defeated Waynesville 4-1, while Joplin scored two second half goals to defeat Republic 2-1.
The District Championship game is slated for Thursday, November 4 at 6:00 in Carthage.