Bentonville’s boys entered Friday’s match against Fayetteville in a must-win situation, but coach Mike Devaney didn’t want his players under that kind of pressure.
“I told our players to just play the way they’re supposed to play, and we’ll let the results take care of themselves,” Devaney said.
The Tigers heeded their coach’s advice, and it resulted in a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs. The win means Bentonville (8-8-2, 3-4 7A/6A-West Conference) becomes West’s No. 5 seed for the Class 7A State Tournament, which begins Thursday at North Little Rock.
Josh Howard provided Bentonville with its first goal less than seven minutes into the match, and Nathan Wunschel added an insurance goal 12 minutes later. The win — the Tigers’ third in their last four matches — forced Bentonville into a three-way with Fayetteville and Rogers High for the final two playoff berths, and the tie-breaker procedure gave the Tigers the higher seed.
“We had played Fayetteville twice before, and the scores had been 0-0 and 1-0,” Devaney said. “So we stressed the importance of getting that first goal. It was a dream start.
“The second goal was just a peach of a goal, and I think that caused our players to settle down. I thought we were very professional through the rest of the match. The defense held, and our players deserved to be winners on that night.”
Bentonville opens the tournament with a 1 p.m. match against the 7A-Central’s No. 4 seed, but that team may not be determined until after Monday night.
Time Costly For Fayetteville
Plenty was on the line for the Fayetteville girls Friday in its 7A/6A-West Conference soccer match with Bentonville at Harmon Stadium.
A share of the conference title was at stake. A possible bye in the first round of the 7A Tournament on the line. And for the first 32 minutes, the Lady Bulldogs were neck and neck with Bentonville keeping the hopes alive to make each scenario turn in their favor.
Instead, Bentonville reeled off three goals in a 1 minute, 40 second time span, leading to a convincing, 3-0 win to win its sixth straight conference title.
“They took advantage of a little mental breakdown and they’ve got the girls to finish,” Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. “Before that we had a few chances and then we look up and holy smoke, it’s 3-0.
“But we talked at halftime about, hey let’s keep working because we might see this team again. Because the things we were doing, we were doing right, we just needed to make our own breaks. And that’s what Bentonville did, they made their own breaks.”
The loss drops Fayetteville (12-5, 5-2 7A/6A-West) to the No. 4 seed in the conference for the Class 7A Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs actually tied with Springdale Har-Ber for second place in the 7A/6A-West, but Bryant from the 6A/7A-South earned the No. 2 seed and Har-Ber earned the No. 3 seed on it’s head-to-head win over Fayetteville.
— VERNON TARVER
Lady Red’Dogs End Season
Springdale High girls soccer coach Franklin Jennings watched Friday as his players battled back and forth with Springdale Har-Ber despite knowing that they had already been eliminated from the postseason.
Har-Ber won 3-2 in penalty kicks, putting an end to Springdale’s season. Still, Jennings said afterward that he saw signs of improvement from the Lady Bulldogs (10-6-2, 1-6).
“All in all, the girls played quality soccer. At the end of the day, we were able to compete in almost every game we played in,” Jennings said. “Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing side of a few of the conference games that we hoped and expected to win.
“But all in all, I feel like we progressed and got better. At the end of the day, I’m proud of my group.”
Springdale’s boys team, meanwhile, fell to a No. 3 seed in the Class 7A State Tournament with Friday’s 2-1 loss to Har-Ber. The Bulldogs (16-3-1, 6-1) are the defending state champions, and they would have repeated as conference champions and secured a No. 1 seed had they knocked off Har-Ber.
But Springdale gave up the go-ahead goal on a penalty kick with nine minutes, making the team’s road to a second consecutive state title a bit more difficult. Bryant earned the No. 2 seed over Springdale.
— ALEX ABRAMS
Wildcats Soak Up Victory
Springdale Har-Ber didn’t waste any moments during a 2-1 over Springdale High Friday and that attitude continued long after the game was over.
“We stayed out there on the field and soaked it all in until the light’s went out,” Har-Ber coach Nelson Medina said. “It was unbelievable environment for a soccer match with fans and the student body from both schools out there cheering and supporting their teams. It was something I haven’t seen since my playing days.”
The victory gave Har-Ber (10-7-1, 7-0) the championship in the 7A/6A-West Conference and earned the Wildcats a first-round bye for the Class 7A State Tournament at North Little Rock. Har-Ber will play at 10 a.m. on Friday following first-round games on Thursday.
Cole Brothers scored the winning goal on a penalty kick after Enrique Rojo put Har-Ber ahead 1-0 in the first half. Jorge Gonzales then tied the game for Springdale (16-3-1, 6-1) before Brothers sent his kick into the net with nine minutes remaining.
“We entered conference play 3-7-1 but we faced some really good competition, especially from the Tulsa area,” Medina said. “We were ready to play once conference started and we kept getting better and better.”
The Har-Ber girls made it a sweep Friday with a 3-2 victory over the Lady Bulldogs. Adeline Williams and Evie Cannon scored goals in regulation before Har-Ber edged Springdale in penalty kicks to claim the match.
The victory earned Har-Ber the No. 3 seed for this week’s state tournament.
— RICK FIRES
Lady War Eagles On A Roll
Rogers Heritage soccer coach Craig Frank said it’s taken longer than normal to come together, but his Lady War Eagles appear to be clicking on all cylinders heading into next week’s Class 7A state tournament.
“It’s taken longer this year to work out timing issues than in the past,” Frank said. “But the girls are feeling good and for the most part, we’re healthy.”
The Lady War Eagles (16-4-2) have won eight in a row since losing in penalty kicks to 7A/6A-West champion Bentonville. Their latest win was a 5-2 win over cross-town rival Rogers High, which gave them the No. 5 seed from the 7A/6A-West. Heritage will play at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Senior Ellen Lundy broke her own single-season school scoring record of 19 goals a couple of weeks ago, but she’s kept piling on. The Lipscomp University signee had a hat trick on Thursday’s win over Rogers to bring her season total to 26.
Lundy draws all kinds of attention defensively, but Frank said the emergence of freshmen Keely Compton, Emily Seiler, Hannah Markel and Bailee Russell have also helped the Lady War Eagles’ offense.
“Ellen gets double- and triple-teamed and now others are developing confidence they need and instead of trying to find Ellen they have to confidence to take the shot,” Frank said. “It’s part of that freshman growth process, but they aren’t playing like freshmen now.
“They can definitely be moved around the field , but they are pushing the older players.”
The Heritage boys, which lost 3-2 in PKs to Rogers, will be the No. 4 seed and will play at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Frank said the boys must develop more of a killer instinct.
“They have always had difficulty putting teams away,” Frank said. “They work hard in practice on their skills and tactics, but it seems like when the game starts they are hesitant to pull the trigger at times.”
— PAUL BOYD