FORT SMITH -- Conway Coach Matthew Page told his players prior to Thursday's first-round Class 7A boys state soccer tournament match that it would take each one for the Wampus Cats to advance.
And it nearly happened.
Today’s games
Game 5 FS Northside vs. Rogers Heritage, 10 a.m.
Game 6 Rogers High vs. Bryant, noon
Game 7 Springdale Har-Ber vs. Conway, 2 p.m.
Game 8 Catholic vs. Springdale High, 4 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 9 Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 10 a.m.
Game 10 Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, noon
The Wampus Cats outlasted two-time defending-state champion Bentonville 8-7 in penalty kicks after regulation and overtime was tied 1-1. Conway's Leo Hernandez came through with the winning penalty kick for the Wampus Cats who advanced to face Springdale Har-Ber at 2 p.m. today at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
"That was crazy, man," Page said. "I've had one more crazy match like that, but that was the craziest. To go that deep into PKs is crazy. This went above and beyond."
Lightning halted play for 1 1/2 hours less than 12 minutes into the match with Conway leading 1-0 behind Brooks Thomason's goal. Conway took that lead into halftime after the stoppage.
Once the teams returned for the second half, lightning struck again, delaying the match another 48 minutes. The Wampus Cats (11-10-1) appeared in control throughout the second half, appearing on the verge of handing Bentonville (9-7-1) its fourth shutout loss in its last five matches.
One final chaotic surge by the Tigers resulted in Harrison Dickerson's game-tying goal with 45 seconds left in regulation. Two scoreless 10-minute overtimes could not decide the winner, leading to the penalty-kick rounds.
"We're a big PK team," Page said. "In the last two years, we're 10-2 in games decided by PKs. It seems to always end in a tie and we go to penalty kicks. I don't know [how we end up in PKs]. These guys can't tell you either. It's just one of those things. We practice them all the time just for this right here."
Both sides found the net on their opening four penalty kicks. In the fifth round, Bentonville was stuffed, leaving Conway needing just one more goal, but the kick sailed well over the crossbar. The teams each scored on their following three kicks before the Tigers were turned away on their final two attempts before Hernandez scored the game-winner.
Rogers Heritage 5, Fort Smith Southside 3
The War Eagles (13-5) scored three times in a six-minute span early in the second half to run away from Fort Smith Southside in the opening match of the tournament.
Pedro Garcia, who also capped the first half with a goal, scored less than seven minutes into the second half. Erol Banuelos and Ivan Salinas then tacked on goals two minutes apart to push Heritage's lead to 5-0.
Southside (11-13) tacked on three goals -- one penalty kick -- in the final 25 minutes of the match. Heritage will face host Fort Smith Northside at 10 a.m. today.
Springdale High 2, Little Rock Central 0
The Bulldogs (16-5) cruised to an opening-round victory over the Tigers (6-13) at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
Jessie Gomez struck first for Springdale, scoring the lone goal of the first half in the first 18 minutes. Springdale sophomore Jose Vega then tacked on another goal midway through the second half to set the final score.
Springdale advances to face Little Rock Catholic today at 4 p.m.
Bryant 2, Van Buren 0
Bryant (12-7-1) earned a quarterfinal match with Rogers at noon today behind a shutout victory against the Pointers (7-17) at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
Andy Doonan got the scoring started for Bryant midway through the first half. His goal was all the Hornets would need before teammate Riky Barrientos scored with 7:31 left to set the final score.
Sports on 05/12/2017