CLASS 5A BOYS SOCCER

Second-half flurry catapults Hot Springs past Valley View

FAYETTEVILLE -- Hot Springs' first state soccer title didn't come easily, but it came suddenly.

The Trojans scored three goals in an eight-minute stretch late in the second half Saturday at Razorback Field, and defeated Valley View 4-2 for the Class 5A boys championship.

"There's not a group of kids on this planet that I'm more proud of than these guys," Hot Springs Coach Cory Sturdivant said.

Hot Springs striker Erick Guadron set up the go-ahead score when he got free for a shot near the top of the box in the 75th minute that was deflected by Valley View goalkeeper Andrew Bates, but Johnny Vazquez was there to put the rebound in the net to break a 2-2 tie.

Guadron, named the tournament's most valuable player, tied the game at 2-2 in the 73rd minute when Josue Hernandez slipped a pass between two defenders, and Guadron buried a short-range attempt.

"I thought we did a really good job for a while, but ... we're not going to stop him," Valley View Coach Ron Teat said of Guadron. "We're just hoping to contain him, and we did that until when it counted there at the end. And a good player made a great shot."

Valley View's defense held strong for the first 70 minutes, but the Blazers (21-2-2) had to go on the offensive after falling behind, and the Trojans (16-5) took advantage to score the clincher.

Hot Springs goalkeeper Mannie Santillan struck a goal kick to Guadron, who was in one-man coverage, and Guadron scored his 49th goal of the season.

"I don't have words for this," Guadron said. "Oh my gosh. I got to score my first goal and then my second goal. Everybody wants to talk to me and praise me. It's crazy."

Hot Springs scored on three of its final four shots on goal, the other one leading to the decisive rebound, but it took 60 minutes to finally solve Valley View's strong defense.

Hot Springs trailed 1-0 at halftime, after Valley View's Simon Acosta scored in the 24th minute, and tied it in the 60th minute on a Guadron feed to Hernandez.

Valley View regained the lead 2-1 when Brock Davis took advantage of a misplayed Hot Springs header and scored in the 63rd minute.

"That's something we've done all year, try to capitalize on their mistakes," Teat said. "Unfortunately, there weren't enough mistakes today."

A fracas at the end led to Valley View's Tyler Harmon and Hot Springs' Juan Santillan receiving red cards. They will have to sit out the first matches of their senior seasons.

It didn't spoil Hot Springs' joy.

"I've been playing 11 years and I've been coaching eight, so I feel like I've been waiting almost 20 years for this moment," Sturdivant said. "And for these kids to be able to do it after all they've been through, I couldn't be any more proud of them and we couldn't me any more proud to be representing Hot Springs, Garland County and the 5A-South. I'm so glad for these kids."

Sports on 05/22/2016

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