SPRINGDALE -- Erick Guerrero raced down the left side of the field and found himself one-on-one with the Bentonville West goalkeeper.
From 15 yards out, he struck the ball solidly with his left foot and sent a hard crossing shot across the front of the goal. The keeper got a piece of the ball, but the force of the kick was enough that it skittered into the net.
Guerrero's goal 35 minutes into Friday's match was the only one as Springdale edged West 1-0 in the Class 6A boys state soccer tournament at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
"It all started in the midfield. My teammate picked it up in the middle and lifted his head up and saw me through," said Guerrero, a senior. "I took a touch with my head and I looked up and saw the chance, and I just took it and luckily it went inside for a goal. I got a good shot on it."
The win sends Springdale (9-5-2) into today's noon semifinal against Rogers Heritage.
Because the 2020 season was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, Springdale is the defending state champion. Guerrero said the team is accustomed to playing with a bull's-eye on its back.
"We lost a lot of seniors who were on last year's team and everyone kind of doubted us at the beginning of this season," he said. "Right now, we're all keeping each other up. We keep everyone up and on good vibes."
Bulldogs Coach DJ Beeler said his team played a little tight early, but once Guerrero broke the ice, the team seemed to relax.
"I felt like in the first half it took us a while to settle in," Beeler said. "I think there were some nerves there. We seemed a little bit rushed in the way we were playing, and it was kind of playing into Bentonville West's hands. We were fortunate to get a goal amongst all that chaos.
"I think in the second half we settled in a little bit, started moving the ball better, which kind of pinned Bentonville West back a little bit and that made them a little less dangerous."
Springdale had multiple chances to add to the lead, but several open shots were just off the mark, including a header by Guerrero that clanged off the top bar of the goal.
West (6-5-1) also had chances, but Springdale kept the ball out of the net as keeper Cesar Rizo had a couple of saves. Springdale's Jesus Oropeza also came in with a big defensive play, racing in to kick the ball away from the Bulldogs' net with under four minutes remaining in the match.
Conway 3, Bentonville 2
After a scoreless first half, there was a barrage of goals in the final 40 minutes as the Wampus Cats claimed a one-goal win.
Bentonville struck first when Noah Blake scored off a corner kick just two minutes into the second half.
Conway (16-1-4) answered back on Hayden Youngblood's cross shot into the goal six minutes into the second half.
The Wampus Cats got two goals from Jacob Chalk, and the Tigers (8-4-5) added a goal from Andrew Wagner.
Conway will take on Springdale Har-Ber at 10 a.m. today in the semifinals.
Springdale Har-Ber 2, Fayetteville 1
The No. 2 seed Wildcats earned a berth in today's semifinals with a close win against 6A-West rival Fayetteville.
Jonathan Ruvalcaba and Yahir Perez scored the goals for Har-Ber (10-3-2). The first came on an error inside the Fayetteville goal when the ball was dropped off the foot of Ruvalcaba, and the second on a crossing shot by Perez.
Ian Morrison scored the goal for the Bulldogs (7-11-5).
Rogers Heritage 3, FS Northside 1
The War Eagles punched their ticket to the semifinals by scoring two goals in the first half.
Heritage (8-2-4) grabbed a 1-0 lead when Brandon Gallardo found the back of the net with 30:30 left in the first half.
Northside (11-4-3) answered on a goal from Rafael Barroso at the 19:15 mark that tied the match at 1-1.
The War Eagles took advantage of a penalty kick with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Martin Duran was taken down inside the Northside box and was able to get the ball past the Grizzlies' keeper.