BENTONVILLE -- Rogers Heritage girls soccer coach Craig Frank warned his team before Friday's match it was about to face a sleeping giant.

It took Bentonville about 20 minutes before it was fully awake.

McKenzie Dixon broke a scoreless tie with her 18th goal of the season midway through the first half, and the Lady Tigers continued the attack until they claimed a 4-0 victory over the Lady War Eagles during 7A/6A-West Conference action at the Tiger Athletic Complex.

"They were a little determined for this one," Bentonville coach Kristina Henry said. "They wanted to get back in and start battling again.

"It was a matter of finding the space. There was so much space to use, and we didn't take advantage of it. It was good to get that first goal, then settle into our game."

Dixon maintained her spot on the offensive side of the field throughout the match, but scoring opportunities didn't come easy because of the defensive attention she drew. When one finally came her way, the junior midfielder made the most of it and fired from 22 yards out into the left side of the net, giving Bentonville (7-4-1, 2-1) the only goal it needed with 20 minutes, 47 seconds before halftime.

Heritage (4-7-1, 2-2) never had a serious scoring threat, while Bentonville's offense picked up the pace throughout the second half. Freshman Lauren Hargus picked up her goal on a hard shot less than 90 seconds into the second half, then Gia Diaz scored the other two goals for the Lady Tigers, who were playing their first match after their 43-game winning streak against league foes was snapped last week by Siloam Springs.

"We're a team in the process of maturing," Frank said. "Our main component is we're playing more ninth- and 10th-graders than anybody else in Class 7A, and the scores are showing.

"I took the sleeping giant approach with Bentonville. They aren't used to losing, and that woke them up. One dropped mark on our account and an excellent shot on their part, and here we go again."

Boys: Bentonville 2, Rogers Heritage 1

Tyler Roberts battled his way inside the 18-yard box and scored what proved to be the decisive goal early in the second half as Bentonville remained undefeated in 7A/6A-West play.

The Tigers (10-0-1, 3-0) took a 1-0 lead when Chase Hunter found the ball in heavy traffic and fired a shot into the goal during the final minute of the first half. Roberts was on the right side of the goal and scored his goal with 37:37 remaining, making it a 2-0 Bentonville lead.

Heritage (5-7-2, 0-4) kept the match a close one when Cesar Fuentes capitalized on a Bentonville defensive error and scored with 35:15 left to play.

Heritage returns to conference action Thursday at home against Van Buren, while Bentonville travels to Springdale High for a pair of matches Friday.

Sports on 04/19/2014