CABOT -- A misjudged punch away was the difference as Fort Smith Northside defeated Rogers Heritage 1-0 in the semifinals of the Class 6A boys soccer tournament Saturday at Panther Stadium.
In the 17th minute, Northside playmaker Cesar Perez went down injured following a collision with Rogers Heritage goalkeeper Nico Moreno. Perez is the focal point of the offense for Northside (12-4-2), scoring once and drawing a penalty in Friday's 3-2 quarterfinal win over Springdale.
Without Perez, Northside Coach Mauricio Maciel had to opt for a new philosophy as his talisman was being treated on the bench.
"We had to take a little bit of a defensive posture to the game," Maciel said. "As long as he's out, we were going to suffer offensively. [We had to] do the best job defending until he comes back in and can make their defenders uncomfortable."
During that time, Rogers Heritage (6-6-2) attempted to take advantage with a series of free kicks. Defender Luis Gonzalez came the closest to capitalizing on the opportunities, striking the ball from 48 yards to force a save by Northside goalkeeper Osmin Mandujano.
"We're getting in there and touching the ball, we're getting the back-side touches, we're putting ourselves in a situation to score," Rogers Heritage Coach Christhian Saavedra said. "They were in the right place at the right time, and we just weren't."
In the 56th minute, with Perez having returned from injury, Northside set up for a corner kick. Moreno had been key to Rogers Heritage's quarterfinal win over Fayetteville, but it was an errant punch of the ball that gave Perez the opportunity to head the ball back over the goalkeeper's head and give Northside a 1-0 lead.
"[A] goal scorer can smell goals," Maciel said. "A lot of the time, if [he] just positions himself in the right spot, he's lethal. We definitely want him on our side."
Rogers Heritage would have a few last-ditch attempts to tie the score, but Perez's goal was ultimately the decider to send Northside into next week's state final.
"That's the game we play. It's cruel," Saavedra said. "You can take care of the details and then something like that happens and the plan goes out of the window."
CONWAY 1, BENTONVILLE 1 (4-2 PKs)
Following Friday's 2-1 victory against Little Rock Catholic, Conway Coach Matthew Page noticed one glaring absence from his team's win -- a Ty Fisher free-kick goal.
Fisher and Conway (15-1-3) try to make the most of free kicks, and in Saturday's Class 6A state semifinal against Bentonville (10-5-4) Fisher got a second chance.
With the Wampus Cats trailing 1-0, Fisher stepped up for potentially the last kick of his high school career. Fisher struck the ball just like any of the hundreds he's taken for Conway and found Lincoln Parker for a tap-in to tie the game at 1-1 and send it to overtime.
"That's why you keep playing until the 80th minute," Page said. "It ain't pretty soccer, but it gets the job done."
While Fisher helped to send the game to overtime, it was Conway goalkeeper Jackson Tucker who was the star, helping to keep Conway within a goal. With Bentonville dominating most of the possession in the first half, Tucker was called upon to make save after save as the Conway defense soaked up the pressure -- in the 54th minute even saving a deflected shot from his own defender.
"[Tucker's] one of the best I've ever had," Page said.
Bentonville went ahead 1-0 just after halftime as a corner kick ricocheted off a Bentonville player into the net to put the Tigers ahead 1-0.
With 40 seconds left in the second overtime period, it was Tucker that came up with a diving save to keep it level at 1-1 and send it to penalties.
Each team was successful on its first two penalty attempts before Tucker came through once again, saving the next two Bentonville attempts as teammate Henry Ross ultimately converted the winning kick.
Gallery: 2022 6A Boys Soccer Tournament Semifinal
