Pointing upward

Fayetteville is certainly not the only team in the state with a crucial week ahead.

Van Buren has a chance to avenge its lone conference loss tonight when it hosts Russellville, and the Pointers can guarantee themselves the top seed out of 5A-West with wins against both the Cyclones and Siloam Springs on Friday night.

No doubt, there were adjustments to be made by Coach Nathan Almond as Van Buren faced several opponents for the first time ever.

But since that Russellville defeat April 15, the Pointers have outscored their opponents 27-3.

“The biggest challenge [has been] not knowing what to expect,” Almond said. “We’re just having to go in somewhat blind the first time through the rotation and the second time it’s a little easier — you know what’s coming.”

Almond’s been able to make adjustments because he’s got as experienced a group as there possibly can be. While Van Buren (16-1-1, 11-1) didn’t get to play last spring — along with the rest of the state due to covid-19 — the Pointers had three freshman starters on their 2019 team that made the second round of the state playoffs.

They’re now juniors on a team made up entirely of upperclassmen, with five seniors and 13 juniors.

Junior forward Pedro Rodriguez leads Van Buren with 22 goals.

But there’s plenty of depth that makes the Pointers dangerous. Almond’s son Kylan, Fernando Romero and Isaac Ochoa were key pieces two years ago and in the last three games, Van Buren has had three different players log a hat trick.

On the year, the Pointers have 13 players with at least two goals.

“When you look at that [6A-West] conference we were in, I think that played a major role in preparing us,” Almond said. “My leading scorer in 2019 had 42 goals — we don’t have anything close to that. … It’s hard to point to one or two. It’s really balanced and teams have a difficult time taking away something from us.”