SPRINGDALE — Springdale High boys soccer coach Donald Beeler hasn’t had to motivate his players going into this season.
In each of the last two years, the Red’Dogs have won more than 15 games in the regular season before having their seasons ended in the semifinals of the Class 7A State Soccer Tournament.
Beeler said his players, especially the seniors, don’t want that to happen for a third straight year.
“You can definitely tell in our practices that our guys have been working harder and doing all the little things to make sure this team is ready to go,” Beeler said. “Our seniors have had two straight years of losing in the semifinals and they’re tired of that happening.”
Last season, Springdale went 18-3 before losing to Russellville in a shootout in the state semifinals, which Beeler said was tough for his players to accept.
This year, however, Beeler the Red’Dogs have several returning starters and depth at every position, giving him hope that Springdale can have another successful season.
Senior defender Zane Salazar will return this year as one of the team’s leaders, Beeler said. Salazar had a season-ending shoulder injury early last year, which prevented him from playing in a majority of Springdale’s games.
Joining Salazar will be sophomore Alan Garcia, senior Everisto Martinez and senior Yovany Alfaro, who have all made impressive progress in preseason practices, Beeler said.
“I like the quality of players we have at every position,” Beeler said. “We’ve got a lot of depth and the players we have starting are very experienced and know what they’re doing. And we need to go to our bench, those guys will be just as talented.”
Junior Jose Landaverde returns at the midfi eld position after scoring more than five goals for the Red’Dogs last year. Beeler said Isai Beltran will also return as Springdale’s goalkeeper after playing the position for most of last season.
In regards to playing defense and scoring, Beeler said his team is focused on being as balanced as possible this season, with the ability to do both during every game.
“When you look at the makeup of our team, I think it’s really good,” Beeler said. “Our guys play hard, they’re going stay focused all season and they have goals in mind, like winning a conference and state championship.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make that finally happen this year.”