WEST 1, EAST 0
CONWAY -- There were moments in the first half of Friday's Arkansas High School Coaches Association Boys All-Star soccer showcase where Luis Torres appeared to be frustrated with the way the contest was being played, but any dissatisfaction he had was gone by game's end.
Torres scored at the 25:03 mark of the second half as the West held on to beat the East 1-0 at Estes Stadium.
"Just to get that win feels great," Torres said. "We played really hard and kept trying our best. Things didn't always go our way, but in practice we told ourselves that if we have fun and play hard, we could win a game like this.
"It wasn't always pretty, but we never quit and was able to pull it out."
Breck Rambo of Benton was named the West's Most Outstanding Player, while Evan Trimble of Conway was award the same honor for the East. Jack Bos of Siloam Springs was selected as the game's Most Valuable Player, but it was Torres who ultimately decided the outcome on the scoreboard with a goal from 20 yards out that initially ricocheted off a teammate's foot.
"To score a goal, at an event like this, is huge," Torres said. "It was back and forth and no one had scored. So to be able to get one, especially at that moment, was unbelievable."
Torres wasn't feeling unbelievable at times early on. The El Dorado graduate admitted frustration set in on a few occasions when his team continued to miss out on scoring opportunities.
"My motto is to always try harder," he said. "You've always got to support your team no matter what. We missed out on a couple of chances, but we stuck with it."
Both teams had several chances to score in the first half, with a number of attempts coming within 15 yards of the net. Neither team had much luck in the second half either until the West finally broke through with Torres' shot.
The East, however, did have two prime opportunities to tie the game late but failed to capitalize on either. Jhorman Cruz of Bryant had his shot from 10 yards away nip the left corner of the goal post with 6:40 to go, and less than two minutes later, Primitivo Lemus of Hamburg misfired from almost the exact same spot.
Sports on 06/23/2018