ALL-NWADG BOYS SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR: MIKE DEVANEY, BENTONVILLE

Devaney relishes state title run

Mike Devaney, Bentonville; boys soccer coach of the year.
Mike Devaney, Bentonville; boys soccer coach of the year.

BENTONVILLE -- Mike Devaney didn't get to celebrate much when Bentonville's boys soccer team won the Class 7A state championship last year.

So when the Tigers repeated the feat last month, he made it clear that he was going to get in on the festivities, especially with what it took for Bentonville to defend its crown.

"That's something we had talked about," Devaney said. "Being the defending state champion, we were going to get every team's best efforts, week in and week out. Going through the conference is hard enough because we have so many quality teams, then you add playing each of those teams twice.

"Last year was a sense of relief, where this year I got to enjoy it more. I got to enjoy it more by being around a special group of kids, and that all culminated that Saturday. I wanted to soak it in and enjoy it with them."

Devaney guided Bentonville to an 18-2 mark, which included a 12-2 mark in 7A-West Conference play. The Tigers then knocked off Fayetteville, Little Rock Catholic and Fort Smith Northside in the Class 7A state tournament to win the title.

Bentonville turned up the offense and scored almost twice as many goals as last year's team, but it was the defense that did the job down the stretch. The Tigers won 10 straight matches after their loss at Northside and allowed only three goals in than span.

"That was pretty remarkable, when you think of it," Devaney said. "It's the business end of the season, where things start to get tighter and when teams are fighting to get into the tournament and for seedings.

"So we reverted back to where we were last year. We were very difficult to score on, and that was the foundation. We scored a lot more goals, which took pressure off our back four and our goal keeper, but the foundation was we were going to be solid back there, and we certainly we at the end of the season."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

Sports on 06/11/2015

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