FAYETTEVILLE -- The floodgates opened for Siloam Springs' girls soccer team in the second half, and the Lady Panthers rode the waves to another state title.
Siloam Springs blew open a 1-0 halftime lead with five goals in the second half and the Lady Panthers won their fourth straight Class 6A title with a 6-1 rout of Russellville at Razorback Field.
Siloam Springs was playing in its fifth straight state title match, dating back to a 3-1 loss to Searcy in 2013. But unlike the previous state-title wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Lady Panthers finally got some breathing room Friday.
Junior forward Audrey Maxwell scored a hat trick and three other Lady Panthers scored goals Friday. Maxwell scored the game's first goal with 4 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half, but the Lady Panthers missed several other good chances and only led 1-0 at halftime.
"We just got them in at halftime, settled them down a bit," said Siloam Springs coach Brent Crenshaw. "I thought we were being outworked at times. I think that kind of challenged them, and I told them to play simple soccer, move off the ball, connect with our passes, and do all that stuff. ... Having an Audrey Maxwell and Megan Hutto and those dangerous players that we have, they're going to put one in the back of the net if they keep getting chances."
That's exactly what happened in the second half for Siloam Springs (24-3).
Maxwell scored just 25 seconds into the second half when Russellville keeper Brit Hillis came out on a play and Maxwell kicked it over here into the left corner for a 2-0 lead.
Maxwell, whose first half goal was assisted by Megan Hutto, assited to Hutto for the Lady Panthers' third goal with 32:21 left in the second half.
Sydney Bomstad scored with 30:22 left on a long shot to make it 4-0, and Maxwell scored again with another assist from Hutto for a 5-0 lead. It was Maxwell's third goal of the game and her 42nd goal of the year, a single-season Lady Panthers record.
"It's amazing what she does," Crenshaw said of Maxwell. "(Russellville) even tried to man mark her again today. She still finds ways to score and get open and just a great kid, great work ethic and just so honored to coach these kids."
Russellville (13-10-1) spoiled Siloam Springs' bid for a clean sheet when Rachel Prochazka scored with 13:59 left to cut the score to 5-1.
Just as quickly though, Siloam Springs found the back of the net when Hadley Crenshaw scored to set the game's final score.
"It never gets old," Hutto said. "It's always exciting. It's a big day. It's a big moment."
Injuires caught up with Russellville, which has battled injuries through the end of the season, including a rolled ankle suffered by starting goalkeeper Onna Collins this past week in practice.
"Definitely had some legs tired out there," said Russellville coach Kelly Young. "We had to use our backup keeper, who did outstanding for us. We didn't know that until game time which keeper could go."
Sports on 05/20/2017