CLASS 7A BOYS SOCCER

Bentonville offense rolls by NLR

Bentonville’s Bruno Mariscotti (17) tries to maneuver past North Little Rock’s Teylen Patterson on Thursday during the Tigers’ 7-0 victory over the Charging Wildcats in the Class 7A state boys soccer tournament at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale.
Bentonville’s Bruno Mariscotti (17) tries to maneuver past North Little Rock’s Teylen Patterson on Thursday during the Tigers’ 7-0 victory over the Charging Wildcats in the Class 7A state boys soccer tournament at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- It took Bentonville's boys more than 16 minutes to find that elusive first goal against North Little Rock, even with the number of chances they had at the goal.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Ethan Smith, Bentonville junior, heads the ball Thrusday against North Little Rock during the 7A state soccer tournament at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium in Springdale. The Tigers won 7-0.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Bruno Mariscotti (17), Bentonville junior, pushes the ball up the field Thursday against North Little Rock during the 7A state soccer tournament at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium in Springdale. The Tigers won 7-0.

Once Wyatt D'Spain connected, the rest of the Tigers followed suit as the two-time defending state champion rolled to a 7-0 victory to start the Class 7A state tournament at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.

Soccer

Boys

Class 7A

At Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium, Springdale

Thursday

Little Rock Catholic, Rogers Heritage, Little Rock Central, Springdale High draw first-round byes

Match 1: Bentonville 7, North Little Rock 0

Match 2: Rogers High 1, Cabot 0

Match 3: Springdale Har-Ber 3, Bryant 1

Match 4: Fort Smith Northside 5, Conway 1

Today

Match 5: C1 Little Rock Catholic vs. Bentonville, 10 a.m.

Match 6: E1 Little Rock Central vs. Har-Ber, noon

Match 7: W2 Rogers Heritage vs. Rogers, 2 p.m.

Match 8: W1 Springdale High vs. Northside, 4 p.m.

Saturday

Match 9: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 10 a.m.

Match 10: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, noon

Championship

Friday, May 20

at Razorback Field, Fayetteville

Match 11: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10, noon

D'Spain, who hit the crossbar with a kick in the opening minute, took a pass from Eli Brandon and connected with 23:45 left in the first half. It proved to be the only goal Bentonville (14-5-1) needed to move to the quarterfinals and another 10 a.m. game today, this time against Little Rock Catholic.

"We knew this was going to be an important match to come out and send a message," D'Spain said. "We wanted to show that we're here to play. We wanted to make sure we got touches on the ball and shots on goal. I was able to get some opportunities and so did my teammates.

"It was a great ball in from Ethan Stockdale, who's been brilliant coming up from JV. Tyler Roberts had a great layoff from it and I was able to get my foot around it. It had a nice curl to it into the right corner, and it was a good feeling getting that sweet spot on your shoe."

Bruno Mariscotti had Bentonville's most unlikely goal when he was about 20 yards out and hooked a kick from the far sideline into the right side of the goal. Roberts then crossed up the goalkeeper and softly nudged a shot into the right side of the goal to make it 3-0 at halftime.

Chase Hunter then scored off a corner kick 44 seconds into the second half, and the Tigers cruised from there as North Little Rock (5-9-2) failed to get a shot on goal. Eli Brandon and George Schultz each scored off penalty kicks, and Tyler Guentz added another goal after the sportsmanship rule was invoked, cutting almost 10 minutes off the clock.

"The second goal had a little good fortune to it," Bentonville Coach Mike Devaney said. "We always tell our players to get the ball into good areas, and Bruno curled that one into a good area -- through the box and into the right post.

"Tyler made a great run on his goal, and that's all he's trying to do. He's trying to lift it over the goalkeeper. He doesn't have to smash it there, and it was a quality finish off a good ball from Wyatt."

Rogers 1, Cabot 0

Jessie Ramirez provided the lone goal as Rogers (14-6) earned the first-round victory and the right to play crosstown rival Rogers Heritage at 2 p.m. today.

Ramirez was going to his right when he stopped and blasted a shot into the left part of the goal with 18:56 left in the first half. Both teams had other scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize on them, with Cabot's last hope being a long kick by Dylan Wagnon with about 5 minutes remaining.

Springdale Har-Ber 3, Bryant 1

Second-half goals by Ernesto Orellana and Raul Umana helped an aggressive Springdale Har-Ber turn a halftime tie into a victory in the first round.

The Wildcats (10-10) responded after they fell behind 1-0 on a goal from Bryant's James Lasley in the 18th minute of the first half. Har-Ber tied the match at 1-1 when junior Ivan Fuentes scored with 7:16 left in the half, then quickly took control with goals by Orellana and Umana in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Wildcats' attacking offense also served to limit scoring opportunities for Bryant.

Fort Smith Northside 5, Conway 1

Pablo Chavez answered a tying Conway goal with what proved to be an eventual game-winner less than a minute later as Northside outlasted Conway for a first-round victory.

Chavez's goal was the first of four Northside scores in the second half after Conway's Mike Ward tied the match at 1-1 shortly after intermission. The Grizzlies (15-7) also got one second-half goals from Fernando Amaya and two from freshman Luis Paredes to go along with Angel Parga's first-half score 69 seconds into the match.

The Grizzlies advance to the quarterfinals to face top-seeded Springdale, a team they beat twice in three games in the regular season.

Sports on 05/13/2016

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