PREP SOCCER REPORT

Bentonville High coach Mike Devaney has a tough decision ahead of his match at Van Buren after his backup goalkeeper Augustin Herrera provided some late-game heroics in his first conference start against Springdale Har-Ber last week.

Herrera, who filled in for regular starter Evan Shanks, saved what would have been the game-tying shot in a sudden-death shootout to secure the win for the Tigers.

Now, Devaney has to decide who he wants to start in goal for Bentonville today in a huge 6A-West match. He will ultimately choose whom he's most comfortable with at the time, he said.

Bentonville has the second-best conference record in the 6A-West, sitting at 6-2 so far this season. Its only two losses came against No. 1 Springdale, 5-0, and Van Buren, 3-1. The Pointers have one of the most prolific scorers in the conference in Isaac Delafuente, who burned the Tigers for all three goals in their last matchup. Delafuente will get some extra attention today, but Devaney thinks his team's defense has improved since then, he said.

"We gifted them a couple of goals by not defending properly, and against a kid like that, if you don't defend properly ... he's going to punish you," Devaney said. "We have to be more aware of where that kid is and deal with the situation when it comes up."

Bentonville also will look to add some more goals this game after just scoring the one against Van Buren. Rodrigo Mouron has scored six goals for Bentonville to lead a well-balanced attack.

"We can score from a bunch of areas. We have a couple of guys in that three, four, five (goal) range," Devaney said. "Again, it would be nice to have a kid who you could rely on to get 20 goals. We don't have that luxury, but that's kind of a good thing because you can't really focus on one player."

The girls match will start the slate off tonight in Van Buren with the boys to follow around 7:30 p.m. Bentonville will then face Rogers Heritage at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the lead match with the girls to follow.

Springdale High

Bulldogs fighting for top seed

The Bulldogs are the only team to make it through the first half of conference play undefeated and are well on their way to achieving their goal of finishing first in the 6A-West to get a coveted first-round bye in the state playoffs.

The only thing that could stop Springdale is itself at this point, coach D.J. Beeler said.

"We have to fight complacency. That's No. 1," Beeler said. "Outside of that being ready for potentially something new. There are going to be some teams out there that want to try something different, and we have to be ready for that."

Opponents still might find it difficult to score against the Bulldogs, which have allowed the least amount of goals in the 6A-West. One of the driving factors for the team's defensive success has been Springdale's forwards, which have kept pressure off their backline. The team leads Class 6A with 34 goals.

Springdale's added to its goal total and extended its winning streak to nine games after the beating Van Buren, 4-2, and Rogers Heritage, 4-1, last week. Jose Vega, the team's leading scorer, notched four goals during the week, and Danny Maldonado added two of his own against Heritage.

Vega, a Neosho County Community College commit, has been one of the top scorers in the conference this season and is the team's go-to option even though Springdale is loaded with talent at the forward position with Maldonado and Rene Recinos.

"He's certainly doing a good job right now of finishing opportunities for us," Beeler said. "I think he's recorded two goals in every conference game for us, so it's really hard to do much better than that."

Springdale will look to continue its dominance when it faces Bentonville West at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The girls will play before them at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will then travel across town to play rival Springdale Har-Ber at 5:30 p.m. Friday with the girls' game coming after theirs.

GIRLS

Rogers Heritage

High seed still within reach

Heritage coach Skye Stover's goal for his team to finish in the top three of the 6A-West hit a bit of a road bump after they split their games last week, losing 2-1 to rival Rogers on Tuesday before beating Springdale in a shootout last Friday.

The Lady War Eagles are 5-3 in conference play and sit three spots back from first in the conference.

Heritage jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Springdale behind two goals from Pam Seiler off assists from Lanee Knight but gave up two goals to the 1-7 Bulldogs late in the game, including one in the final minutes that could not have been placed any better for his team to not be able to get it than it was, Stover said.

"Right there at the last few minutes, (Springdale) had a corner that just fell in the box right in the right spot," Stover said. "It was one of those things where you just shake your head and are like, 'Wow.'"

With the win, Heritage now is tied for the third-best record in the 6A-West with Fayetteville but are in fourth place because the Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker after beating the War Eagles, 4-2.

Heritage will have a chance to close the gap at the top of the conference when it faces Bentonville on Friday. The team lost to the Lady Tigers, 3-0, the first time the teams faced each other this season, but Stover thinks his team has grown since then in its maturity and confidence, especially after playing Rogers close in the loss. Now he just needs his team to shoot.

"One of the things that held us back the first time we played them was we couldn't get in position to shoot a lot," Stover said. "Now we just need volume shots. Volume shots will be the difference maker in that game."

Heritage will continue its homestand against Springdale Har-Ber at 5:30 p.m. today with the boys' game coming afterward at 7:30 p.m. The Lady War Eagles won the first matchup 3-2 earlier in the season. The team will then play Bentonville at 7:30 p.m. Friday with the boys playing before at 5:30 p.m.

Bentonville High

Lady Tigers show resiliency

The Lady Tigers' winning streak hit three games after the team beat Bentonville West, 1-1, and Springdale Har-Ber, 4-0, last week. Bentonville sits at second place in the 6A-West headed into the second round of conference play, and coach Kris Henry has been impressed with her team's toughness and composure through the first half of play.

The Tigers had a scare against cross-town rival West earlier in the week but won 4-2 in a shootout. Bre East saved West's first shot attempt before another Wolverine attempt hit off the goal.

Bentonville went on to make four of its five goals to secure the win after Angelina Diaz scored for the Tigers in regulation to force the shootout.

Diaz has been a force for the Tigers at the forward position and a welcomed addition as she returned to Bentonville this season after moving away during her sophomore season.

"It's been awesome. She didn't miss a beat," Henry said. "It's just great to kind of have that go-to player."

Diaz had scored a goal a game in conference play before the Har-Ber game. Sydney Wagner and Abby Stolt each scored against the Wildcats to pace the offense.

East's play in goal has anchored Bentonville's defense, which has only allowed two goals in conference play, all season.

The Lady Tigers will play Van Buren at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at home for the second time this season after beating the Lady Pointers, 8-0, earlier this season. The guys will play after them. Bentonville will then face Heritage on Friday at 7:30 p.m. with the boys' game starting at 5:30 p.m.

"I expect a tight game with Heritage for sure," Henry said. "They're very capable of a tighter score than what we had last time."

Sports on 04/16/2019