Fayetteville Sweeps Soccer Home Opener

 STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Cassidy Sykes, a Fayetteville sophomore, scores a goal against Van Buren during the first half Tuesday at Harmon Stadium in Fayetteville.
STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Cassidy Sykes, a Fayetteville sophomore, scores a goal against Van Buren during the first half Tuesday at Harmon Stadium in Fayetteville.

— A quick score to open the game for the Fayetteville girls soccer teams was followed by a steady stream of patient offense throughout the rest of the first half of Tuesday's match.

But almost as soon as the horn sounded to start play after intermission the Lady Bulldogs' offense stepped up its intensity.

Fayetteville 4, Van Buren 0

Van Buren^0^0^—^0

Fayetteville^1^3^—^4

First Half

Fayetteville — C. Sykes, 37:31

Second Half

Fayetteville — K. Sykes, 36:41

Fayetteville — Tubb, 35:27

Fayetteville — C. Sykes, 18:25

Fayetteville 7, Van Buren 0

Van Buren^0^0^—^0

Fayetteville^3^4^—^7

First Half

Fayetteville — Collins, 38:37

Fayetteville — Kley, 31.58

Fayetteville — Morante, 28:26

Second Half

Fayetteville — Kley, 36:43

Fayetteville — Dutton, 34:58

Fayetteville — Warren, 33:26

Fayetteville — Martin, 4:17

Just minutes into the second half, Fayetteville (3-1) went on the attack and quickly put away Van Buren. Goals by Katie Sykes in the 44th minute and Kara Tubb soon after in the 45th minute set the tone for big second half, and sparked the Lady'Dogs in a 4-0 nonconference victory in their home opener at Harmon Stadium.

"Van Buren has a really young team and they're keeper did a really nice job and made a lot of saves," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "I just told our girls at halftime, keep doing what you're doing and you're going to score some goals. And then we got a goal early there (in the second half), and that took some pressure off. Then we get a second goal, and that was good, because it allowed us to get everyone in and I thought everybody contributed well."

Cassidy Sykes got Fayetteville's scoring started early as the Lady Bulldogs broke through in the first few minutes of the contest. But the rest of the half was mostly missed opportunities for Fayetteville, which spent almost the entire game on the offensive side of the field.

Van Buren (1-3) never seriously threatened to score, but instead played on its heels against the quicker Fayetteville team.

"I actually thought our girls played pretty well," Pointerettes coach Nathan Almond said. "They just had a push there in the second half, and then we were out of it."

Sykes added Fayetteville's final score on an unassisted goal with 18:25 left. Sykes was left unguarded and after missing her first shot in the midfield from 20 yards, finished off the score on a second attempt into an open net from 10 yards away.

"(Cassidy) is creative and you never know when that turn is going to happen and she's opened herself up," Thoma said. "It's fun to watch in practice and we're just trying to find ways to get her the ball in games."

Fayetteville plays at the Harrison Tournament this weekend.

Boys

Fayetteville 7, Van Buren 0

A surge of offense led Fayetteville to an easy victory over Van Buren (0-2) in its home opener on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs got three goals in a span of 10 minutes in the first half, with Tommy Collins, Nicholas Kley and Harry Morante staking Fayetteville to a 3-0 lead by intermission. The Purple'Dogs then stayed aggressive after half, scoring four more times, with three goals coming in a short three-minute span.

Kley finished with two goals on the night for Fayetteville (3-1), while Mitchell Dutton, Jacob Warren and Mason Martin also added goals in the second half.

"Before the game we spoke about coming out and being aggressive and we did that," Fayetteville coach Steve Oliver said. "We took our foot off the gas a little there and I didn't like that. But overall I thought it was a very professional performance."

Sports on 03/12/2014

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