When Berryville goal-keeper Jake Parks' long, wind-aided kick took two bounces before going into the Central Arkansas Christian net, Mustangs Coach Fabian Mina had one reply.
"I thought, 'Oh, no,' " he said.
But with the wind in CAC's favor during overtime, the Mustangs used a goal by Landon Stafford to take a 3-2 victory over the Bobcats in Monday's semifinals of the Class 4A boys soccer tournament at Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Parks' unlikely score, aided by a strong south wind coming off the Arkansas River, had moved Berryville into a 2-2 tie with the Mustangs, who had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half when they had the wind at their backs.
Berryville scored twice, the other goal coming from Paublo Villatoro, in the second half to force overtime.
The Mustangs advance to Saturday's state title game in Fayetteville against Green Forest, which defeated Valley View 3-1 on Monday.
"We just got tired a little bit and they put the ball well," Mina said. "They are a pretty good team. They put the ball on the ground well. The wind affected the ball a lot.
"We made a couple of mistakes. That is soccer. You make mistakes and you pay for it. And we paid the price. The ball just went over my goalie's head. At that point, I told the kids to just relax ... we will get it back."
Stafford's winner came near the end of the first 10-minute overtime period.
CAC had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half on goals by Billy Sullivan and Eric Bentley.
GREEN FOREST 3, VALLEY VIEW 1
After a goal by Valley View's Taylor Brown tied the game at 1-1, Green Forest took the lead on Eric Perez's penalty kick after a hand ball. The Tigers added another goal by Rolyn Perez.
"I thought we played very well, just like we did in the last two games,'' Green Forest Coach Bradley James said. "We have been possessing the ball a lot better and have been able to get a strike when we need it.
"We knew this was going to be a tough game. They were just a solid ball club. They have a little different makeup, but they are still a solid team."
Sports on 05/20/2014