SILOAM SPRINGS -- Wyatt Church came up big for Siloam Springs, and the Panthers are heading back to the Class 6A state championship game.
Church, a sophomore goalkeeper for the Panthers, made two saves in the penalty kick session, and Siloam Springs defeated Little Rock Hall 1-1 (3-1 PKs) to advance to this week's state-title game against Mountain Home, which knocked off Russellville 4-2 in PKs in the other semifinal.
Church said there wasn't time to gather a scouting report on Hall, but he came up big for the Panthers regardless.
"I just kind of had to go where I thought they would go and fortunately it worked out for me," Church said. "It feels pretty good. The guys were happy. I'm not trying to brag but a lot of them said I helped win the game, and it feels like that. It's a really good feeling. It's one of the best feelings honestly."
Christian Marroquin, Eli Jackson and Jose Serrano converted their penalty kicks for the Panthers (20-5-1).
Church allowed Hall's first shooter, Nabeel Alwan, to score, but made a save on the second shooter, Leonard Velasquez, and Hall's third shot by Lester Teletor hit the left post.
Church deflected Hall's fourth shot, by Tony Carmona, and Serrano converted Siloam Springs' fifth shot for the game-winner.
"It's a running joke at my house: I'm not very good at PKs when it comes to a coach," Siloam Springs Coach Brent Crenshaw. "I tried to do our best and put our best five shooters out there.
Crenshaw said Church has been working with volunteer coach Hannah Poor, a former Siloam Springs all-state goalkeeper and current JBU player.
"He picked the right side," Crenshaw said. "We didn't have any film on them. We didn't know which way they went. It was all on him. So proud of him and so happy for him."
The teams played to a 1-1 tie for 100 minutes -- two 40-minute halves and two 10-minute overtimes before going into penalty kicks.
Marroquin scored the Panthers' regulation goal in the first half, and Hall's Yarly Giron scored in the second half on an open goal to tie the match. Hall keeper Carlos Fabian also made two saves in the penalty kick session.
MOUNTAIN HOME 1,
RUSSELLVILLE 1 (4-2 PKS)
The Bombers outscored Russellville 4-2 in penalty kicks to keep their undefeated season alive.
Mountain Home's Corey Queen, Jason Standridge, Ewan Platt and Xaco Baonza all converted their penalty kicks, while goalkeeper Spencer Foster made one save in the period.
Both teams made their first kick, and Spencer saved the second one to give Mountain Home (18-0) a one-goal advantage.
Both sides converted their third kicks, but Russellville (21-3-2) missed its fourth before Baonza converted for the victory.
Sports on 05/14/2017