Soccer Har-Ber Hands Fayetteville First Conference Loss

FAYETTEVILLE -- Springdale Har-Ber players rushed to the officials almost in unison. The Wildcats appeared certain they had a go-ahead goal with just under five minutes to play against Fayetteville that wasn't credited.

The Wildcats were right.

After first ruling the play a goal kick out to Fayetteville, officials overturned the original call and gave the deciding score in Har-Ber's favor, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 win on Friday at Harmon Stadium.

The final goal, which appeared more like an own goal by Fayetteville, may or may not have barely crept past the white line inside the south net before the two teams pushed the possession out of bounds. But either way, the overturned ruling turned the match in a big way for the Wildcats.

"I couldn't see it, I was too far away," Har-Ber boys soccer coach Nelson Medina said. "All I could see was how my entire team responded. I had about nine guys at the same time unified saying it was a goal. I don't believe I had that many guys lying, but to be honest I couldn't tell if it was a goal.

"I just had those guys who were so emphatic about the goal and they made the call there and it is what it is."

Fayetteville coach Steve Oliver wasn't as convinced as the Har-Ber players. After the Bulldogs rallied to tie the match with a Mitchell Dutton goal with 26 minutes, 23 seconds left in the second half, Oliver was frustrated for his players with the final outcome.

"I didn't see anything, and if you look at the video the linesman actually flags for a goal kick," Oliver said. "And I ask my players and they don't think it's even close.

"But that doesn't help my guys one bit."

Fayetteville (9-4, 4-1 7A/6A-West) struck first when Richard Hudson scored on a header off a corner kick in the eighth minute of the first half. Har-Ber (10-5-1, 3-1) quickly responded when Mitch LaMendola broke past the Bulldogs' defense for a score with 27:57 left in the first.

Har-Ber then took momentum into intermission, scoring a late first-half goal when Raul Umana gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead with just 47 seconds left before halftime.

"Ninety-percent of goals are scored in the first five minutes of half or last five minutes, and Fayetteville also scored pretty much in that time," Medina said. "We responded and got one late in the half, and that was a huge goal.

"I knew it was going to be a battle and Fayetteville is going to be a tough out when we get to the playoffs."

Fayetteville suffered its first conference loss, but must quickly refocus with road games at Springdale High and Bentonville still on the schedule.

"We have two options," Oliver said. "We either sulk and pout for a week or we come back with the same work ethic and say bring on Springdale."

Girls

Fayetteville 1, Springdale Har-Ber 1 (Fayetteville wins 4-3 on penalty kicks)

Berklie Young scored on an inbounds assist from Hannah Davis with just over 10 minutes to play to force sudden death penalty kicks for Fayetteville, where the Lady'Dogs rallied with two stops late for a 4-3 PK victory on Senior Night.

Neither team could find much success on offense, until Evie Cannon found an open net and scored for the Lady Wildcats with 16:09 left in the second half. But Fayetteville (10-2, 4-1) quickly responded, getting Young's goal to eventually force the sudden death.

"It was kind of a frustrating night," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "We didn't come out and play the the way we had practiced all week and Har-Ber probably had something to do with that."

Har-Ber (6-6-1, 2-2) briefly led in the penalty kick shootout, 3-2, but missed on its final two attempts to allow Fayetteville to rally for the 4-3 win.

"(Goalkeeper) Gracie (Cape) has done a tremendous job for us all season," Thoma said. "In Harrison, she made a game-winning save to win the tournament and today she makes the save to keep us in it.

"So this team is fun to coach in a lot of ways, and it's good to be to 4-1 in conference."

Sports on 04/26/2014