FAYETTEVILLE -- The Russellville Cyclones are again the state champions in Class 6A.
Russellville received goals from four players and defeated Siloam Springs 4-1 on Friday in the boys championship game at Razorback Field. Marcos Miranda, Gilberto Jimenez, Dylan Rice and Justin Fuentes scored goals for Russellville, which led 3-1 at the half. Brian Andrade had the lone goal for Siloam Springs, which had won the past two state championships.
"The confidence is there, that's how you get to 3-1," Russellville coach Jared Fuller said of his team's fast start. "Then, you can just play soccer and not play uptight where you're worried about the stupid little things happening."
After the match, Fuller followed his players to the stands and slapped hands with Cyclone fans who were pressed along the railing. The championship is Russellville's fourth since 2012 after also winning in 2014 and 2015.
"I talked to about 400 kids at a prep rally (Friday morning) to get them all hyped up, and a lot of them came," Fuller said. "So, I just wanted to go over there and tell them we were going to bring the 'W' home, and we did it."
Friday's match was the fourth meeting between the two teams from the 6A-West Conference. Siloam Springs earned two 1-0 victories while suffering a pair of 4-1 losses to the Cyclones.
"We just put the ball in the back of the net," Fuller said. "That's what soccer is all about."
Russellville (19-4-1) played on Siloam Springs' end for most of the first half. Miranda opened the scoring with a header on an assist from Rice with 27 minutes, 46 seconds left in the first half.
With Russellville still celebrating, Siloam Springs (16-8-3) answered when Andrade scored seconds later on a shot from about 45 yards away. But that was it for Siloam Springs, which had only two shots on goal in the first half to seven for Russellville.
Russellville continued to attack and increased its lead to 4-1 after goals by Jimenez , Rice and Fuentes.
"We were better this year, but they've been better than us in past years," Fuller said. "I'm so glad we didn't just beat them 1-0. We showed that not only were we the better team, but that we were a dominant team."
Sports on 05/19/2018