SPRINGDALE -- Springdale junior Salvador Gonzalez saw a pair of his shots just miss in the first half of Tuesday night's 7A-West opener against undefeated Rogers Heritage.
But his goal with just under 30 minutes to play broke a scoreless tie and sparked a second-half offensive surge for Springdale in a 3-0 win against the War Eagles at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
Both sides placed numerous shots on goal in the first half, but coach Donald Beeler's club kept attacking and, once Gonzalez added the first goal, the offense snowballed. Beeler said he and his team could feel the breakthrough coming late in the first half.
"The (Heritage) goalkeeper made a couple of really good saves. And in the second half we stuck with what was working," Beeler said. "We talked about some things we wanted to do in that first half, we just didn't really do them. In the second part of the first half we got into a rhythm and did some of those things we wanted to do, and got some of the patterns of play we talked about."
Michael Martinez and Richie Godinez then followed up Gonzalez's score with a pair of goals just six minutes, 37 seconds apart to build Springdale a 3-0 lead. Gonzalez, overall, was happy with the Bulldogs' offense Tuesday night although Springdale was unable to close on a few scoring chances.
Jesus Barroso -- taken down inside the box early in the second half-- saw his penalty kick saved as Springdale clung to a 1-0 edge. The Bulldogs then had another shot denied in the final minute of the match.
"We didn't finish everything we could have, but we won," Gonzalez said. "They're a good team. We had a lot of opportunities to score, so I think our offense is looking pretty good this season."
Springdale moves to 5-1 overall with the win and 1-0 in league play heading into Thursday's showdown with Springdale Har-Ber at Wildcat Stadium. Har-Ber knocked off Rogers High in its conference opener, 4-0, Tuesday. A competitive match is customary when the teams meet, Beeler and Gonzalez say.
"I would imagine it's going to be a very good game," Beeler said. "Even in the seasons when it shouldn't be a good game, for one reason or another, it always is. I wouldn't expect anything less. It's a rivalry game, so everything kind of evens out no matter what team has an advantage on paper."
Heritage will aim for win No. 1 in the 7A-West at home Friday against rival Rogers.
Van Buren 2, Bentonville West 1
Tyler Guentz scored West's only goal Tuesday as the Wolverines dropped their 7A-West Conference opener at Van Buren.
George Shultz was credited with an assist for West (3-4-1, 0-1) which returns to action Thursday against Fayetteville.
Girls
Rogers Heritage 4, Springdale High 4
After a high-scoring first half that saw the Lady War Eagles carry a 3-2 lead into hafltime, Heritage edged Springdale in penalty kicks, 3-2, to earn a win in its conference opener.
Springdale falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in 7A-West play entering Thursday's match against Har-Ber. Heritage improves to 2-3 on the season. The Lady War Eagles travel to Rogers on Friday.
Rogers High 1, Springdale Har-Ber 0
Leslie Barrales scored the lone goal with 3 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first half to give the Lady Mounties the win.
Rogers improved to 3-2-1 and 1-0 in the 7A-West.
Bentonville West 4, Van Buren 4 (West 3-2 in PKs)
Madison Eubanks, Hailey Maras and Briana McSpadden scored on penalty kicks, and Addison Dawson made two saves to lift West to victory in its first 7A-West Conference match in school history in Van Buren.
Alissa Carlson had a hat trick and Maras added a goal during regulation for West (2-5-1, 1-0), which ended its six-match winless streak.
Sports on 03/15/2017