FAYETTEVILLE -- A team can't win if it can't score.
That was the problem for Springdale Har-Ber and a lot of other teams against Bentonville, which defeated the Wildcats 3-0 Saturday in the Class 7A boys soccer state championship game at Razorback Field.
The title game was a rematch from the regular season when the Tigers used a late goal by Tolliver Davis to win 1-0. Josh Howard scored 35 seconds into the second half Saturday, and the Tigers added two more goals to finish off the Wildcats (13-9-1), who began the state tournament as a No. 6 seed.
Bentonville (17-0-1) won every game except for a 0-0 tie with Rogers. Teams managed only 18 goals in 18 games against the Tigers, who completed a sweep of the 7A titles after Bentonville's girls team won its state championship with a 3-2 victory over Bryant.
"These kids have been magnificent from start to finish," Bentonville Coach Mike Devaney said. "It's an extraordinary accomplishment to go through conference play and then win a state title without losing a game. Absolutely magnificent."
Howard broke the scoreless tie when he slipped a shot past Har-Ber goalie Ben O'Brien with 39:25 remaining in the second half. The goal came seconds after Har-Ber's Rolando Sidon had to be helped from the field after colliding with a Bentonville player.
"That was a tremendous weight off our shoulders," said Howard, a junior. "We played the whole first half looking for that goal, so we knew it would come. We were pretty confident about it, the weight's off our shoulders, and we were able to open up the field and move the ball more."
Wyatt D'Spain gave the Tigers extra cushion when he scored Bentonville's second goal with 20:25 left to play. The Tigers added a third goal by Davis when Har-Ber sent everyone toward the goal.
"Bentonville's championship is well-deserved," Har-Ber Coach Nelson Medina said. "They're a great team. In the first half, we played quite well and had the better of the possessions. We created some chances, but we didn't do anything with it."
O'Brien, who had allowed one goal in three previous tournament games, kept Saturday's game scoreless going into halftime with a diving save against Zach Estrada. Har-Ber began to control the ball midway through the first half, but the Wildcats missed on the few chances they had. Har-Ber had a corner kick sail out of bounds on the other side when no one could get foot or a head on it.
Once Howard scored, Bentonville had the advantage and the only question was whether the Tigers would shut out the Wildcats for the second consecutive game.
They did.
"Our defense was solid the entire game, the entire season, actually," Howard said. "We knew they would do their job. It was just up to our offense to see what we can do."
Sports on 05/25/2014