FAYETTEVILLE -- In the blink of an eye, Bentonville turned an even match into a one-sided one Thursday.
The Lady Tigers allowed Fayetteville to score a tying goal with 18 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second half when Falon Hanson found a clearing for the Lady'Dogs to finally break through the tough Bentonville defense.
But wasting no time, the Lady Tigers quickly went right back on the attack. McKenzie Dixon worked past the Fayetteville backline just 37 seconds later for a go-ahead goal. Then less than a minute later, another Bentonville goal from Melanie Matkins was the final touch on a 3-1 victory at Harmon Stadium.
"It was a great response by my team," Lady Tigers coach Kristina Henry said. "It elevated my team another notch (after Fayetteville scored). They knew they could do it, they just needed another kick there."
Fayetteville (14-5-1, 10-3 7A-West) missed some scoring chances in the first half and battled to hold Bentonville out of the net for much of the first half. But just before intermission, Lady Tigers freshman Alissa Carlson scored with 1:09 left on the first-half clock for a 1-0 Bentonville lead.
Fayetteville regained the momentum when Hanson tied the match with 18:07 remaining in the second half. But the Lady Bulldogs barely had time to celebrate as Bentonville stormed right back ahead.
"There was a focus there on their part to come right back with those goals," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "I thought Bentonville was pretty much the better team on the night and I thought we were chasing the whole game."
Bentonville (18-4, 14-0) capped off a perfect run through 7A-West Conference play with the victory Friday. The Lady Bulldogs are still in the fight for the No. 2 seed at the state tournament and will face Springdale Har-Ber on Monday at 5 p.m.
Boys
Bentonville 1, Fayetteville 0
Jose Castro scored the match's only goal midway into the second half on the corner kick and Bentonville relied on stingy defense throughout the 80 minutes to secure a road win at Harmon Stadium on Thursday.
"We missed chance after chance and left (Fayetteville) in it," Bentonville boys soccer coach Mike Devaney said. "But we stayed patient and got the goal and when you don't give up any goals that's always good."
The Tigers (14-2, 11-2 7A-West) clinched an outright conference title with the win and will be the No. 1 seed at the 7A Tournament.
"Going through this league, through the quality opponents and coming out on top is always a big accomplishment," Devaney said.
Bentonville hosts Springdale High on Monday in the resumption of a postponed match to wrap up the regular season. Fayetteville (10-10, 6-8) has completed the regular season and will be the No. 6 seed from the 7A-West at the state tournament.
Sports on 05/08/2015