CONWAY -- Caroline Campbell played a part in all three of her team's goals Wednesday afternoon, leading the East to a 3-1 victory over the West in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star girls soccer game on a cloudy, windy day at Estes Stadium.
Campbell, a 5-4 standout forward from Bryant, scored two goals and her point-blank blast on the East's second goal was rebounded and kicked in by Conway's Shelby Grimes.
Campbell's offensive output came as no surprise to East Coach Larry Stamps.
"I've never seen anybody like her," said Stamps, who is the head coach at Searcy High School. "The ball gets down. She dribbles, she straightens up and she can finish. I've never had a player who can finish like that. When she gets the ball, you're in trouble. That's what I like about her."
Campbell said she was the benefactor of excellent passes on both of her goals.
"I had amazing passes from my teammates, and I was lucky enough to put them in," said Campbell, who will play soccer for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in the fall after scoring 23 goals and adding nine assists for the Lady Hornets during her senior season.
Stamps gave credit to Cabot's Hadley Dickinson for feeding Campbell with great passes.
"We had gaps, and we were hitting the lanes when we needed to hit them," Stamps said. "We had great touches, and we didn't have to break stride. When you don't have to break stride on your passes, it's trouble for the other team."
Campbell scored the game's first and final goals. Her opening goal came at the 30:19 mark in the first half.
Six minutes later, Campbell had a strong kick near the goal that was blocked. That kick, however, bounced directly to Grimes who drilled in the rebound for a 2-0 East lead.
Anna Lewis of Siloam Springs responded at the 23:35 mark with the West's lone goal, and there was no more scoring until Campbell's second goal with 23:21 remaining in the contest.
"The talent level here was unbelievable," Stamps said. "Some kids can get open but they can't finish. These kids can finish. And I had one girl [Nancy Mendoza of Fort Smith Southside] who had to play back on defense the entire time because we were short on numbers. She never complained. They were just good kids all around."
Mendoza was selected as the East's outstanding player. Sienna Nealon was named the West's outstanding player.
Sports on 06/22/2017