SPRINGDALE -- Two second-half goals were all Mount St. Mary needed to beat Springdale Har-Ber.
Seniors Abbey Moore and Katie Wilcox scored goals within minutes of each other as Mount St. Mary eliminated host Har-Ber 2-0 Thursday in the first round of the girls Class 6A state tournament at Wildcat Stadium. Mount St. Mary (10-6-2) now faces Fayetteville (14-0-3) in a second-round game today at 2 p.m.
Har-Ber and Mount St. Mary went nearly 60 minutes without a goal until Moore scored on a penalty kick after being fouled by a Har-Ber defender. The Belles quickly gained a 2-0 cushion 90 seconds later when Wilcox scored following an attack on the Har-Ber net from Savannah Solloway.
"Savannah got the ball and dribbled it up from the left side," Wilcox said. "She crossed it over and I cut in front of the [defender] and got the shot off. This game was super important. We needed the win to get pumped up for tomorrow's game, which will be a lot harder."
Shots on goal were few in the first half when the teams went into the break tied 0-0. Mount St. Mary had a few more opportunities than Har-Ber, but the Belles couldn't get anything past Har-Ber goalkeeper Keirman Jones. Solloway had possession in front of the Har-Ber net, but Jones rushed out to make the save. Jones also caught a solid kick from about 20 yards from Mount St. Mary's Savannah Bosley.
"We tried a new formation today and it was our first time trying it," Mount St. Mary Coach Stephanie Pierce said. "Our first half started a little rough, but we got our business done. We talked them at halftime and we said 'this is where you have to decide if you really wanted it.' They wanted to win and we had nine seniors who came out and did it."
Mount St. Mary finally put a score on the board when Moore, a Ouachita Baptist signee, scored with 22 minutes, 33 seconds left in the match with Wilcox's goal following seconds later thanks to Solloway.
"That (second) goal was critical and for the seniors to do that together, that was the best part," Pierce said.
The No. 4 seeded Belles then completed the shut out to set up today's match with unbeaten Fayetteville, the champions from the 6A-West Conference.
"Fayetteville is tough, they're undefeated, and we know that," Pierce said. "But we're pretty excited to play them. I'd rather play them than a Central (Conference) team because we know what to expect from them. We'll go play and see what happens."
Bentonville West 3, Fort Smith Northside 1
Tianna Jones scored two goals to lead Bentonville West past Northside in the opening game of the tournament.
Kaitlyn McMahon also scored for Bentonville West (10-6-2), which posted five consecutive shutouts to end the regular season. Gracie Hardbarger scored the lone goal for Northside.
Bentonville West advance to play Bryant today at 10 a.m.
Rogers 4, Little Rock Central 2
Arkansas State signee Jourdan Badely scored two goals to lead Rogers over Little Rock Central.
Grace Nowlin and Aubrey Holloway also scored goals for Rogers, which advanced to play North Little Rock at 4 p.m. today.
Conway 1, Rogers Heritage 0
Sienna Holmes scored with 21 minutes, 56 seconds left in the game to lift Conway past Rogers Heritage.
Reagan Graff posted the shutout in goal for Conway, which will face Bentonville at noon today.