SPRINGDALE -- Evie Cannon went out in style during her final home game at Springdale Har-Ber.
Cannon scored in the first half to give Har-Ber a 1-0 victory over Fayetteville Monday in a makeup game at Wildcat Stadium. The goal was the 16th of the season for Cannon, who celebrated afterward with family and teammates during a signing ceremony with Hendrix College.
Cannon scored the only goal of the game with 5:42 left before halftime. Cannon worked around a Fayetteville defender on the right side and delivered a kick that squirted past the Fayetteville goalie. Fayetteville came back with a two-on-two rush seconds later but a shot on goal was saved by Madeline Slaton, who posted the shutout for the Lady Wildcats.
"Evie was able to outmuscle her opponent and turn her," Har-Ber coach John Marshall said. "Then, she was able to get a quality shot on goal and hit it hard enough to get through. It was a good play."
Fayetteville (14-6-1, 10-4) was far from tearful about the loss. Har-Ber (12-5, 10-4) needed to win by three goals to leapfrog Fayetteville and take the No. 2 seed away from the Lady Bulldogs. Instead, Fayetteville earned the first-round bye and will play at 4 p.m. on Friday in the Class 7A state tournament in Bryant.
Har-Ber, the No. 3 seed, will play Conway in a first-round game at 2 p.m. on Thursday.
"A 1-0 loss is a win for us," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "We wanted to win and we missed a couple of chances to score a goal. But it was important for us to get that second seed and get the day off on Thursday."
Har-Ber and Fayetteville met Monday after both teams lost to league champion Bentonville last week. Fayetteville lost 3-1 to Bentonville while Har-Ber fell 2-1 to the Lady Tigers.
Har-Ber, which quickly fell behind 2-0 to Bentonville, had control against Fayetteville after Cannon scored with 5:42 left in the first half. Cannon and Adeline Williams both had good scoring opportunities in the second half but could not add to the Har-Ber lead.
The Har-Ber defense, led by Megan Lamendola, helped turn away the few scoring chances Fayetteville had in the second half.
"The last 20 minutes when it's 1-0, we're parking the bus and getting defensive," Thoma said. "In the state tournament, you've got to go for it and we're definitely going to be offensive-minded there."
Sports on 05/12/2015