SILOAM SPRINGS -- A big home crowd had the Siloam Springs boys fired up for their first game of the Class 6A state soccer tournament.
The defending 6A champion Panthers scored three goals in each half and rolled to a 6-0 mercy rule victory over Searcy in the quarterfinals at Panther Stadium.
"It was a pleasure playing and all these fans, it gave us a lot of energy," said junior midfielder Irvin Rios, who scored two goals and had an assist. "It was the first time that all of them came to watch. We just gave them a huge show. I'm proud of us today."
Siloam Springs, the No. 1 seed from the 6A-West, advanced to today's noon quarterfinals against Little Rock Hall, the 6A-East No. 3 seed that defeated Benton 3-1 in another quarterfinal on Friday.
With a large group of students and parents in attendance, the Panthers came out firing and may have been even a little too pumped up early on.
"What a great atmosphere," said Siloam Springs coach Brent Crenshaw. "Most fans we've ever had I think. They were just so excited. They wanted to get the ball and go forward, forward, forward, and that happens when you get young men who are excited. Then they calmed down and started playing."
The Panthers received a bye in the opening round and had to watch all of Thursday's opening round games.
"That's tough sitting around all day," Crenshaw said. "They were anxious. They were ready (Thursday) night. They've been ready for a week. They were just ready to play. Luckily the weather held off. It was a beautiful day, beautiful crowd. The boys always play extremely hard. We got three goals in the first half, got them inside (at halftime) and got them to settle down a little bit and just told them to play soccer."
Rios got the scoring started for Siloam Springs (19-5-1) in the 15th minute when his shot found the upper corner of the net. Eli Jackson had the assist on the play.
Jose Serrna was fouled inside the 18-yard box in the 16th minute, and Christian Marroquin scored the enusing penalty kick to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. It was Marroquin's team-leading 17th goal
The Panthers went ahead 3-0 in the 19th minute when Rios played ahead to Eli Jackson, who finished for his 12th goal of the year.
Rios connected on another long shot in the second half for his third goal of the season, to make it 4-0.
"We moved (Rios) from left back to center mid halfway through the season just because he's kind of special," Crenshaw said. "He kind of settles us down in the midfield. Then his finishing has been really well. I'm proud of Irvin. He's a kid that you can tell him to play wherever you want to, kind of like (Austin) Shull, he'll just go play."
Brian Andrade and Christian Ruiz-Vegas added goals in the second half for Siloam Springs.
"It feels great," Rios said. "Tomorrow's a big day too. One more game and we go to that beautiful grass again in Fayetteville."
LR Hall 3, Benton 1
The Warriors (18-2) advanced to today's semifinals with a two-goal victory against the Panthers at Sager Creek Soccer Park.
Jose Giron Rodolfo scored a pair of goals for Hall, while Lester Teletor had a goal and two assists.
The Warriors led 3-0 late in the second half when Benton (17-3-1) got on the scoreboard on a goal by Matt Warrick.
Russellville 4, Jonesboro 2
Russellville scored four goals in the final 26 minutes of the second half to rally for a quarterfinals victory.
Russellville will play Mountain Home at 4 p.m. in the semifinals.
Jonesboro (24-3) led 2-0 after Salisa Yahaya scored on a penalty kick in the first half and Joe Pacheco scored his state record 56th goal in the 22nd minute of the second half.
Russellville's Nate Turner scored on a penalty kick after a Jonesboro handball in the 18-yard box to make it 2-1. The Cyclones (21-2-2) then tied the game on a goal by Chris Alvarenga.
The Cyclones were awarded another PK after a foul in the box and Alvarenga scored to make it 3-2. Turner added a late goal to set the final score.
Mountain Home 3, El Dorado 0
The Bombers remained undefeated on the season after scoring three first half goals in the win over the Wildcats.
Ewan Platt put the Bombers (17-0) in front 1-0 in the the 18th minute on a penalty kick after an El Dorado player was issued a red card for knocking the ball down with his hands.
Xaco Baonza scored off a Mitch McDonald assist later in the first half, and McDonald capped the Bombers' scoring with a goal off a Mat Dos Anjos pass.
Sports on 05/13/2017