BENTONVILLE -- A Star led Bentonville past Bentonville West on Friday.
Freshman Star Chesshir scored the first two goals, and Bentonville went on to defeat Bentonville West 3-0 at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Chesshir scored her first goal on a header barely two minutes into the game and a second goal with eight minutes, 55 seconds remaining.
The Lady Tigers added a third goal when Allison Fernstrom scored off a free kick with 50 seconds left to play. Chesshir leads Bentonville with 11 goals on the season.
"Star is a really good center-forward in the traditional sense," Bentonville coach Steven Porter said. "She's physical with great finishing instincts."
Chesshir showed her ability to finish a play when she used her head to score following a corner kick from Fernstrom.
"That's a play we've worked on and we know Star is good in the air," Porter said. "We try to get the ball high into an area where she can attack it. Sometimes, we have a tendency to cross the ball too hard and it goes way beyond everyone. But she was able to get her head on it and score."
Bentonville (10-0-1, 6-0-1) won three games this week, all by shutouts. The Lady Tigers were dominant again defensively against Bentonville West (4-5-1, 3-3-1), which struggled to even get in position for a decent shot on goal. Friday's game ended the first half of conference play and provides Bentonville with added momentum when league teams continue next week with round-robin play.
"It goes under-reported and under the radar sometimes about how good defensively we are," said Porter, whose team has allowed only five goals in 10 games. "It's built on a great foundation in the back."
Bentonville controlled the ball in the first half but neither team can generate much offense with the exception of Chesshir's header just to the right of the West goal. Olivia Smith had an opportunity in front of the West goal in the second half but she fanned on the pass and the ball went out of bounds.
Bentonville had two free kicks from about 30 yards but both attempts were stopped by West goalie Kayla Ross.