SPRINGDALE -- Springdale High forward Erick Valverde missed a golden scoring opportunity 11 minutes into Friday's match against Rogers Heritage.
But the Bulldogs senior didn't have long to think about it.
Five minutes after that miss, Valverde fired a deflected shot past Heritage keeper Derek Groomer for what would be the game's only goal as Springdale (6-3-1, 2-2 7A-West) defeated Heritage 1-0 in a 7A-West Conference soccer match at Gates Stadium.
"Getting to 2-2 in conference instead of 1-3 is big," said Springdale coach D.J. Beeler. "Very big win. The defense did a really good job considering how many good attacking players Heritage has."
Valverde got behind the War Eagles' defense at the 29-minute mark for a one-on-one scoring chance, but Groomer came up with the save. Springdale kept the pressure up and Valverde was able to beat Groomer on the left side of the net five minutes later.
"It was nice to see him get that goal because he did have a golden opportunity that he didn't capitalize on," Beeler said. "That can stay with a forward if they don't get a goal pretty quickly. That can stay with you for a couple of games, so it was nice to see him get that.
"It was the decisive goal, so it was very important as well."
Heritage had several good scoring opportunities the first 40 minutes, including two shots by Erol Banuelos, and late in the second half. Just six minutes into the game, Banuelos took a sharp pass from Alejandro Perez on the right side of the Bulldogs goal, but Hugo Rodriguez came up with a big save.
Heritage (2-7-2, 0-4) also had several direct kicks late in the contest, but the War Eagles couldn't convert.
"Sometimes we have some luck, and sometimes we don't have some luck," said Heritage coach Christhian Saavedra. "We didn't have any luck. Groomer did a fantastic job, and I trust him back there. I'm proud of this team, and this group works the hardest of any group that I have had."
Paul Nielsen can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @nwapaul
Sports on 04/04/2015