SPRINGDALE -- The Rogers Mounties are still undefeated.
Rogers improved to 6-0 Friday with a 3-1 victory over Springdale Har-Ber in 7A-West Conference soccer action at Wildcat Stadium. Rogers won in dominating fashion after Jacob Zamarron put the Mounties ahead 3-0 with just over a minute gone in the second half.
Jarrod Eisma and Horacio Olvera scored in the first half for Rogers, which improved to 4-0 in the league heading into Tuesday's showdown at defending state champion Bentonville.
"I'm proud of my guys," Rogers coach Stephen Peck said. "We put together some good combinations against Har-Ber and scored when we had the chance."
Har-Ber barely avoided the shutout when Garardo Ramirez scored with eight seconds to play. Friday's game was boys only to allow the Har-Ber girls to play in a tournament in Missouri over the weekend. The Lady Wildcats beat Rogers 2-0 in a game rescheduled for Thursday.
Rogers took a 1-0 lead over Har-Ber on a goal by Eisma with 30:56 left in the first half. Har-Ber had a chance to strike first in the opening minutes, but Jimmy Araujo stumbled and fell on the ball with the goalie out of position in front of the net.
Araujo scored one of the goals when Har-Ber beat Rogers Heritage 3-0 earlier in the week. His stumble before an empty net proved costly for Har-Ber, which fell behind 2-0 after Olvera scored with 16:19 left in the first half.
"Rogers looked very good tonight," Har-Ber coach Cory Butler said. "Our combo play wasn't quite as good, and we've got to get better at that."
Har-Ber (3-3, 2-2) misconnected on passes most of the night, but the Wildcats did have a scoring opportunity late in the first half. That attempt also failed in close on a header that went wide of the net. Har-Ber missed at least three more good chances in the second half, including a diving header in front of the goal by Erick Ruiz that went wide of the net.
Sports on 04/04/2015