CONWAY -- Erick Guadron capped an exceptional career by scoring the winning goal in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star boys soccer game Wednesday night.
Guadron, a 5-10 forward from Hot Springs High School, kicked in the game-winner with 11:00 showing to give the West a 3-2 victory over the East at Estes Stadium.
"I don't have any words for how this feels," Guadron said. "I'm just very, very happy I scored and that we won."
Guadron, who will play soccer at Arizona State in the fall, scored 51 goals in 22 games for the Trojans during his senior season. He scored in all 21 games he played in this season, including a six-goal effort against rival Lake Hamilton on April 25. He finished with 187 career goals for Hot Springs, leading the Trojans to a 22-4 record and to a Class 5A state championship.
Guadron was named the state tournament's MVP last month and the MVP of the all-star game Wednesday.
"Erick is a special player, and he hit a special shot late," West Coach Brent Crenshaw said. "That's what good players do."
Each team scored two goals in the game's first 27 minutes. The rest of the contest was an offensive struggle for both teams. Guadron broke the tie, kicking in a close shot through traffic.
"This was a hard game," Guadron said. "But when I get the ball, I go straight to the goal. That's what I try to do every time."
The West, which leads the series 8-6, has now won four consecutive games and five of the past six.
The two teams traded goals throughout the first half, but the West never trailed, getting a goal from Benton's Will Guerra at the 34:45 mark.
Nathan Simons of Jonesboro tied the contest at the 30:42 mark. Goals by Russellville's Nate Turner (20:37) and J.T. Holiman of Little Rock Christian (13:42) capped the first-half scoring.
The early offensive showing did not surprise Crenshaw.
"These guys aren't fit for an 80-minute game," Crenshaw said. "I figured the first 20 minutes would be the best soccer you would see. Then after that, I thought it would be kind of a grind.
"And it was. It wasn't very pretty. We tried to sub our guys and keep fresh legs on the field because they're not fit to play 80 minutes this time of year."
Simons was selected as the East's outstanding player. Alex Balderas of Rogers was named the outstanding player of the West.
Sports on 06/23/2017