BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

It has been a season of close games for the Cassville girls soccer team.

At 5-8-2 as of Friday, 11 of the 15 games have been decided by two goals or less, and the Lady Wildcats are hoping to ride their defense to a district upset of Bolivar next week.

Locking in the No. 6 seed after a 1-0 win over Aurora on May 6, complementing a 3-2 win in April, Cassville faces the No. 3 Lady Liberators (11-7) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Logan-Rogersville.

No. 1 Clinton (14-3) faces No. 8 Aurora (6-9-1), No. 2 Logan-Rogersville (9-6) plays No. 7 Monett (5-11) and No. 4 New Covenant Academy (10-5) takes on No. 5 Marshfield (13-5).

Semifinals are May 22 at 4:30 and 6 p.m., and the championship is May 27 at 6 p.m., with all games being played at Logan-Rogersville.

Cassville has never played Bolivar before, and the Lady Wildcats are getting a double dose of the opponent, as the teams played in Bolivar on Tuesday (result not available at presstime) at home, the final regular-season contest before facing the Lady Liberators again on Monday.

The teams have played three common opponents this season, both getting wins over Aurora, both losing to Logan-Rogersville. The only difference is a Bolivar win over Monett, 3-1, compared to a 1-0 Cassville loss to the Lady Cubs.

Jake Forste, Cassville girls soccer coach, said defensively, Cassville has been shining, but offensively, seeing only 10 goals this season compared to 40 last season has presented challenges.

“Offensively, we’ve had trouble locating the net, but overall, we’ve been getting better as the season has gone on and are gelling,” Forste said. “We’re doing the thing we want by playing good ball at the right time. We’ve had a few injuries, and about everyone we feature is a first- or second-year player except for our seniors, Ashley Alonso and Isa Rodriguez. We’ve been looking a bit. sharper since moving Libby Corter from sweeper to striker, and we’re mix- ing and matching to find the right formula.”

Forste said defense and ball movement have been excelling, but to find success in the postseason, Cassville has to up the creativity.

“The five-seed is 13-5, so we knew it was not in play, and we are happy to get the 6,” Forste said. “Bolivar is strong, physical and disciplined, but they may be susceptible to transition play. They are 11-7, but we match up comfortably with them. We hope to match their physicality if not exceed it, get one goal early then turn the lights out.”

Cassville’s captains, goalkeeper Ava Hinson and midfielder Tyra Sturgell, have been the glue for the squad.

“Ava has been great in goal, and any time you have a keeper who can punt a ball 50+ yards, that allows you to reset your lines,” Forste said. “That has also been a big help in our transition game. Tyra has been the iron cat in the midfield, only coming off the field a handful of times. She goes box to box against the other team’s best mid.”

Forste said as the Lady Wildcats are a young squad, they have learned through games this season.

“We’re learning the game within the game,” he said. “But, in the beginning of the season we were teaching big picture things, and now we’re able to drill more into situational soccer.”

Cassville will stay on the younger side, but bring in more oomph next season with a large freshmen class.

“We have a good eighth-grade group of seasoned players [who play club soccer],” he said. “There are four or five who on day one can contribute and have high soccer IQs.”