Balanced attack leads Russellville to 4th title since 2012

FAYETTEVILLE — The Russellville Cyclones are state champions in Class 6A again.

Four different players scored goals for Russellville on Friday in a 4-1 victory over Siloam Springs in the boys championship game at Razorback Field.

Marcos Miranda, Gilberto Jimenez, Dylan Rice and Justin Fuentes scored goals for Russellville, which led 3-1 at the half.

Brian Andrade had a goal for Siloam Springs, which had won the past two state championships.

“The confidence is there. That’s how you get to 3-1,” Russellville Coach Jared Fuller said of his team’s fast start. “Then, you can just play soccer and not play uptight where you’re worried about the stupid little things happening.”

After the match, Fuller followed his players to the stands and slapped hands with Cyclones fans who were pressed along the railing.

The championship is the fourth since 2012 for Russellville, which also won titles in 2014 and 2015.

“I talked to about 400 kids at a pep rally [Friday morning] to get them all hyped up, and a lot of them came,” Fuller said.

“So, I just wanted to go over there and tell them we were going to bring the ‘W’ home, and we did it.”

Friday’s match was the fourth meeting between the two teams from the 6A-West Conference. Siloam Springs earned two 1-0 victories, sandwiched between a 4-1 loss to the Cyclones.

“We just put the ball in the back of the net,” Fuller said. “That’s what soccer is all about.”

Russellville (19-4-1) played on Siloam Springs’ end for most of the first half. Miranda opened the scoring with a header and an assist from Rice with almost 28 minutes left in the first half.

Andrade scored seconds later for Siloam Springs (168-3) on a shot from about 45 yards away. But that was it for Siloam Springs, which had only two shots on goal in the first half to seven for Russellville.

Russellville continued to attack and increased its lead to 4-1.

“We were better this year, but they’ve been better than us in past years,” Fuller said. “I’m so glad we didn’t just beat them 1-0. We showed that not only were we the better team, but that we were a dominant team.”