Notebook: Class 7A/6A Boys And Girls Soccer

 FILE PHOTO JASON IVESTER Hugo Rodriguez, Springdale High keeper, has developed into solid force in the net for the Bulldogs.
FILE PHOTO JASON IVESTER Hugo Rodriguez, Springdale High keeper, has developed into solid force in the net for the Bulldogs.

Springdale High

Goalkeeper Excelling For Red'Dogs

Springdale High goalkeeper Hugo Rodriguez is a first-year varsity starter.

The junior hasn't played like one lately.

Rodriguez played a key role in Springdale's 3-0 penalty kick win over Van Buren on Friday night in a match tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. Rodriguez saved two of the Van Buren penalty kicks, while the third hit the crossbar.

He's now stopped four straight penalty kicks dating back to the WCV Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

"That's not normal," Springdale coach D.J. Beeler said.

Rodriguez's play has been a plus for Springdale (9-3-2, 3-1), which has won four straight overall and three straight conference matches, a stretch that not-so-coincidentally coincides with Rodriguez playing his best soccer.

"I'm not surprised that he's playing as well as he has," Beeler said. "I would say I'm surprised that he's stopped that many penalty kicks in a row. Because that's not really normal. But I've known that he's a quality goalkeeper.

"It was a need for him to get some confidence. And I feel like he's starting to get that. And it's just showing up in the games now."

Springdale will host undefeated Bentonville (10-0-1, 3-0) on Friday in a rematch of a March nonconference game the Tigers won 2-0.

-- JIMMY CARTER • @NWAJimmy

Rogers High

Big Stops For Lady Mounties

Rogers High took another step toward a berth in the Class 7A State Tournament with a victory at Fayetteville on Thursday. The teams were tied 0-0 at the end of regulation but the Lady Mounties (7-6, 3-1) prevailed on penalty kicks.

"The girls were really excited after the game because they realized that we are that much closer to going to the state tournament," Rogers coach Taylor Hayes-Vacarro said. "I'm hoping we continue to play well the rest of the conference and get the highest seed possible."

Lady Mounties keeper Kiara Henry made three saves in penalty kicks to help Rogers to the win at Fayetteville.

"It was unreal, I couldn't believe it," Hayes-Vacarro said. "Her reaction time is great, and she has great hands. She has some of the best hands that I have seen in some time. Obviously, the shooter should score, but she has such great reaction time and instinct. She is just a natural at it."

Hayes-Vacarro said that Henry also had several big saves during regulation. Madison Dake and Mackenzie Muirhead scored the Rogers penalty kick goals.

"In the second half, honestly, Fayetteville was hammering us," Hayes-Vacarro said. "She kept us in it. If we gave a player of the game, I would have to give it to her. There was no way we could have stayed in it if it wasn't for her."

BENTONVILLE

Lady Tigers More Focused After Win Streak Ends

Bentonville's girls had an entire week to wait to play again after a shootout loss to Siloam Springs, ending the Lady Tigers' 43-match win streak against conference foes.

It made for a change in the atmosphere around practice as Bentonville prepared for Friday's match against Rogers Heritage, even though coach Kristina Henry didn't make many changes.

"It was focused," Henry said. "We know we have a job to get done. They were definitely humbled, that's for sure. It was good motivation for us.

"We didn't really do anything different, except we weren't smiling as much. We were just pushing them harder, and this is the time we have to do it. We have to push them harder every day."

The Lady Tigers (7-4-1, 2-1) bounced back in a big way, scoring three goals in the second half in a 4-0 win over Heritage.

"There was so much space to use out there, and we didn't take advantage of it right away," Henry said. "At halftime we tried to get them to understand how much space there was. They tried to use it in the first half, but not in the right way."

-- HENRY APPLE • @NWAHenry

FAYETTEVILLE

PK Shootouts For Fayetteville

Thursday and Friday featured back-to-back penalty kick decisions for Fayetteville against Rogers in girls and boys 7A/6A-West Conference soccer action this week. For the Lady Bulldogs, the results didn't go as planned, as the Lady Mounties won the PK to hand Fayetteville (9-2, 3-1) its first conference setback of the season.

The Fayetteville boys (9-3, 4-0), however, rallied in the PK period, getting two saves from goalkeeper Colton Farley on Rogers' final two attempts for a 4-3 PK win. The Bulldogs, with the victory, remain perfect in league play as they prepare for Senior Night this Friday against Springdale Har-Ber.

"I always try to look at it one match at a time," Fayetteville boys coach Steve Oliver said. "So far we haven't lost any in conference. We played well against Heritage, then not so well against Van Buren. Then we played excellent here against Rogers, a very good team.

"I'm told we haven't been 4-0 in conference in a very long time. So we'll take that and see what we can do with it."

  • VERNON TARVER @NWAVernon

ROGERS HERITAGE

Injury Woes Hurting Both Teams

Rogers Heritage girls soccer coach Craig Frank said several times this season he's never had a season like this one and that's not a good thing.

The Lady War Eagles (4-8-1, 2-2 7A/6A-West Conference) lost junior Shannon Stribling to an offseason knee injury, junior forward Hannah Markel broke her leg in the fall and has returned to action, but nowhere close to 100 percent. Two other freshmen, who were expected to start have played very little this season.

"We started six 10th-graders and a freshman against Bentonville," said Frank, whose team lost 4-0 on Friday night.

Still, the Lady War Eagles are battling for a state tournament berth thanks to a big 4-0 win over Springdale on Tuesday. Heritage dropped a tough 1-0 nonconference loss to the Lady Red Bulldogs earlier this season but finally broke through early in the second half.

The Lady War Eagles broke a 0-0 tie when junior Erika Reyes finally good advantage of an aggressive goalkeeper with a high looping shot that found the goal. Less than a minute later sophomore Emily Seiler hit a penalty kick and Heritage enjoyed a 2-0 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

The boys team has had its own problems, which remained winless in league play after Friday's 2-1 loss to Bentonville.

Heritage coach Franklin Jennings said nine of 21 initial varsity players have missed at least four matches this season.

Heritage boys and girls get back into conference action when it hosts Van Buren on Thursday.

--PAUL BOYD @NWAPAULB

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER

Medina Dislikes Effort

Springdale Har-Ber boys coach Nelson Medina was not pleased with his team's performance in a 2-1 loss at Siloam Springs Friday night.

"Siloam deserved the win," Medina said. "They are a very athletic team that defends well and takes advantages of their opportunities. They played their hearts out. Not to take anything away from them, but I was disappointed in our effort. We got what we deserved."

The loss dropped Har-Ber to 9-5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play with a game at Fayetteville scheduled for Friday.

Raul Umaña scored the only goal for Har-Ber on an assist from Miguel Gomez. It was Umaña's fourth goal of the season and seventh assist from Gomez.

Har-Ber split with Siloam Springs Friday when the Lady Wildcats beat the Lady Panthers 2-0. Elise Reina and Evie Cannon scored for the Lady Wildcats, who will play at Fayetteville on Thursday.

-- RICK FIRES * @NWARICK

SILOAM SPRINGS

Panthers notch first conference win

Siloam Springs boys soccer coach Jason Bowen wishes he could bottle up the Panthers' performance against Springdale Har-Ber on Friday and use it again later this season.

The Panthers played gave an inspired effort and produced their best game of the year in a 2-1 7A/6A-West Conference victory against the Wildcats at Glenn W. Black Stadium.

"That's the team we know we are," Bowen said. "Finally, after a couple of big, heartbreaking losses, we finally knocked one off. That's the team we can be right there. I'm real pleased with them."

Senior forward Alejandro Dominguez' goal with 20 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the game proved to be the game-winner for the Panthers (9-6-1, 1-3), who won their first conference match. The shot came from 25 yards out.

"We were just getting tired of losing," said Dominguez, who scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season. We knew we were better than what we were playing. So we came out and gave it our all. As you can see, when we play as a team, everything works out. We've just got to keep it up as a team and play our best."

James Pollard scored Siloam Springs' first goal on a header with 9:38 left in the first half off a Daniel Sierra assist.

-- GRAHAM THOMAS • @NWAGRAHAM

Sports on 04/20/2014

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