Soccer: Bentonville sweeps Springdale

Bentonville keeps Springdale High under wraps with defense

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Wyatt D’Spain of Bentonville leaps to head the ball Tuesday over Jose Serrano of Springdale High at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Wyatt D’Spain of Bentonville leaps to head the ball Tuesday over Jose Serrano of Springdale High at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- Josh Howard ripped a free kick from 20 yards into the back of the net to give Bentonville a 1-0 lead at Springdale High on Tuesday.

Running back down the field, he raised his index finger to his lips and motioned for the Springdale crowd to be silent.

Bentonville's defense kept Springdale's offense quiet all evening.

Howard scored twice, and Bentonville's defense put together another strong effort as the Tigers beat Springdale 2-0 in the conference opener to win their 22nd straight game.

"That back four has played together now for three years, so they've got a pretty decent understanding of one another," Bentonville coach Mike Devaney said. "And we work hard at it in training, so obviously it's paying off. And I think having (goalkeeper) Ben (Barron) behind them gives them confidence, as well."

Bentonville (4-0, 1-0 7A-West) didn't allow Springdale many good scoring opportunities in either half. The Tigers were opportunistic on offense with Howard scoring both his goals off set pieces, again a strength for Bentonville, much like it was last year during the Tigers' state championship run.

Howard's score on the free kick came in the 27th minute and gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. He added some cushion when he scored off a corner kick midway through the second half.

"It's sort of been our formula the last couple years," Devaney said of the set-piece scores. "We've not given up many goals, and then we score from set pieces. It's worked for us the last couple years."

Springdale's Amilcar Gonzalez had a second-half goal disallowed by an offsides call, one of the rare occasions the Bulldogs (4-2-1, 0-1) were able to mount an attack against Bentonville's stifling defense. The Bulldogs opened the conference slate with the home loss after dropping all three meetings to Bentonville last year.

"I thought we were a little too excited maybe for the game, if you can be too excited," Springdale coach D.J. Beeler said. "I think our enthusiasm to play and the anticipation, we just weren't ourselves. But, that being said, Bentonville gets a lot of credit for that because they put us under a lot of pressure."

Springdale will host Fort Smith Northside on Thursday. Bentonville will play at Rogers Heritage on Friday.

Girls

Bentonville 6, Springdale 1

Senior McKenzie Dixon recorded a hat trick in the first half and finished with four goals to lead Bentonville to a convincing 6-1 win over Springdale in both teams' conference opener.

Bentonville (4-1, 1-0) led 3-0 at halftime thanks to Dixon's three goals. She added another in the second, her 11th of the year, while junior Melanie Matkins scored twice in the second half. Sophomore Chela Razo scored the only goal for Springdale (1-2, 0-1) late.

"It took a while to find some gaps and space, but once we did, we moved the ball well," Bentonville coach Kristina Henry said.

Sports on 03/18/2015

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