SPRINGDALE — As if the cold and rain weren’t bad enough, Rogers High helped ruin Senior Night for Springdale Har-Ber.
Rogers scored twice in the second half and defeated the Lady Wildcats 2-1 Friday in 7A/6A-West Conference girls soccer action at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. Madison Dake and McKinzie James scored for Rogers after Elise Reina put Har-Ber ahead with a goal in the first half.
The victory moved Rogers (12-4-2, 4-2) into a tie with Har-Ber (10-8, 4-2), which began the night tied for second place in the league standings with Fayetteville.
“This was a great win for our team because Har-Ber is really good,” Rogers coach Taylor Hayes said. “It showed we can play with the top teams in the league.”
Har-Ber led 1-0 before Rogers tied it on a goal by Dake with 33 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game. A big momentum swing followed minutes later when Har-Ber shot wide on a goal attempt and McKinzie converted to put Rogers ahead for good.
The Lady Wildcats were turned away again with 5:45 left when Rogers goalie Alyssa Corral made a save after a free kick.
“Alyssa was great,” Hayes said. “We wouldn’t have won without her.”
Reina gave Har-Ber a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal that was assisted by Evie Cannon. Har-Ber had two other good chances in the first half both on shots by Samantha Weber. Weber was turned away from about 10 feet on a direct shot at the net with 34:27 left then shot high and hit the crossbar about three minutes later.
“We had some chances, but we weren’t able to take advantage,” Har-Ber coach John Marshall said. “There was a couple of times we tried for a header when we should’ve just kicked it through.”
Rogers had only one good chance in the first have but that was easily turned away by Maddie Slaton, the Har-Ber goalie.
The game was delayed because of a mixup with the officials, who arrived nearly an hour after the scheduled start. Players from both teams mingled about in the cold weather before the officials finally arrived.
Rogers^0^2^—^2
Springdale Har-Ber^1^0^—^1
FIRST HALF
Har — Reina, 11:49.
SECOND HALF
Rogers — Dake, 33:20.
Rogers — James, 18:19.