Soccer: Springdale High tops Fort Smith Northside in PKs

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Salvador Gonzalez (left), Springdale High freshman, celebrates a goal Thursday with David Portilla, sophomore, against Fort Smith Northside at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale. The Bulldogs won on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Salvador Gonzalez (left), Springdale High freshman, celebrates a goal Thursday with David Portilla, sophomore, against Fort Smith Northside at Bulldog Stadium in Springdale. The Bulldogs won on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation.

SPRINGDALE -- All five Springdale High players converted in a penalty kick shootout, and third-string goalkeeper Juan Roman made a huge save to lift the Bulldogs to a 3-2 win over Fort Smith Northside on Thursday.

Springdale (5-2-1, 1-1 7A-West) outscored Northside 5-3 in the PK soccer shootout to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to defending state champion Bentonville on Tuesday. The Bulldogs beat a strong Northside team despite playing without junior Jose Serrano and losing starting goalkeeper Hugo Rodriguez midway through the first half.

"One of the great things about tonight's game was we got into the bench and guys who maybe don't see as many minutes were on the field contributing," Springdale coach D.J. Beeler said. "It was a team win tonight, because we needed it. Our legs were pretty tired. The guys just responded well, made the adjustments and the guys who came in did their jobs."

Amilcar Gonzalez, Jose Cervantes, Jorge Marquez, Erick Valverde and Pablo Cortes all made their penalty kicks for the Bulldogs, while Roman came up with a save on Northside's second attempt to provide the winning margin.

"Showed a lot of composure in penalty kicks," Beeler said.

Springdale led 1-0 at halftime thanks to freshman Salvador Gonzalez' goal, but the Bulldogs lost starting goalkeeper Hugo Rodriquez after he injured himself making a leaping save late in the half.

Northside took advantage in the second half as Angel Parga scored two goals in the opening eight minutes to give the Grizzlies the lead. So Beeler inserted Roman for the rest of the game.

"I was disappointed as the game was going on, because I felt like we were playing well and controlling the game, then those two goals we gave up, we gave those goals up," Beeler said. "Absolutely, without a doubt, we gave those goals away. It was disappointing. I was glad the kids responded."

Springdale knotted the score at two on a Gonzalez goal later in the half to send the game to the shootout, where it eventually won to hand Northside (5-1-1, 1-1) a tough loss.

"There was a stage in the first half where we took ourselves a little bit out of the game, but I'm proud of the fact that they came back and realized, hey, we can play," Northside coach Mauricio Maciel said. "And they came back and did a good job of that."

Girls

Northside 2, Springdale 1 (PK)

Fort Smith Northside beat Springdale 3-2 in a penalty kick shootout.

Both teams scored their goals in regulation during the first half, with senior Yani Bravo scoring Springdale's goal. Bravo and Jessica Paez each scored in the penalty kick shootout for Springdale (1-3, 0-2).

The Lady Bulldogs will host Rogers High on March 31, after spring break.

Reach Jimmy Carter at jcarter@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAJimmy.

Sports on 03/20/2015

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