Panthers remain undefeated, beat Bears
SHERWOOD – The Benton Panthers finally bent this year on Thursday in 5A Central Conference play. Not giving up a goal for their first seven matches, the Panthers allowed one on Thursday against the Sylvan Hills Bears, but still downed Sylvan Hills 4-1 for their fifth straight win since tying with Bryant in the third match of the season.
The Panthers are still without a loss on the year, improving to 7-0-1 overall,
5-0 in the Central, and have outscored their opponents 45-1 on the season.
A scoreless match in the first half, Benton got off to a slow start having to deal with Mother Nature Thursday.
“First off, we had the disadvantage with a heavy wind blowing into our face and a sun that every player on our team had to cover their forehead to see for 20 minutes,” Benton Coach Bobby Winn said. “Even with the adversity, they (Bears) only had one shot in the first half that (goal keep Bryan) Araujo blocked with ease. We settled in and shot times in the first half but could not finish them off.”
But, Benton would get things going in the second half with senior Carlos Bonilla scoring on a throwin from fellow senior Angel
Gomez. The Panthers scored their second goal 10 minutes into the half when junior Dillon Bosley found senior Shane Magness for an easy goal for the 2-0 lead.
The Panthers would go through some more adversity later as the Bears worked the ball down for a corner kick and a Benton player slapped the ball in the box resulting in a penalty kick and red card, ejecting the Panther player, with Sylvan Hills getting within 2-1.
With the ejection, Benton had 10 players to the Bears 11, but the Panthers didn’t let up.
“What makes me excited about our team is that no one panicked or worried,” Winn said. “We put our heads down and went to work over the next 20 minutes minus a player.”
Benton dominated the rest of the way as Bosley hit a free kick from 40 yards out, the Bears goal keep mishandled and Bonilla cleaned it up for his second goal of the game. Senior Matt Wood scored the final goal on a throw-in from junior Cain Simmons with eight minutes to go. Simmons stepped up when a Panther went down.
“Cain came in big on the back line for us when we went down a defender due to a red card,” Winn said.
Simmons wasn’t the only one to play well defensively.
“Oakley Rockwell and Joseph Dockery dominated on the back line all night to limit any real chance Sylvan Hills had to score,” Winn said. “Bryan only had three saves and all shots were from far distances.
“Sylvan Hills had good speed, so I put my fastest player back and said they can’t beat you to the goal. Overall, it was a great team win. Bosley and Magness really shined with controlling the ball most the night. Bonilla and Gomez stifled
their attack a lot from our midfield also.”
The Panthers also picked up a big win on senior night this past Tuesday, defeating the Jacksonville Titans 11-0 at Panther Stadium.
Magness got the glut of the scoring as he hauled in four goals against the Titans, while Bonilla, senior Logan Davis, junior Miguel Mendez, junior Samuel Morales, sophomore Blake Sterling and sophomore Lucas Wilbur all scored a goal apiece.
Senior Zac Benham picked up two assists in the win, with Bonilla, Gomez, Mendez and Wood all adding a dish each.
GIRLS
The Lady Panthers would settle for a tie against the Lady Bears in Sherwood Thursday, with Sylvan
Hills own goal making it a 1-1 ballgame. The tie in Central action puts the Lady Panthers at 4-2-2 overall, 3-1-1 in league action.
Like the Benton boys, the Benton girls also dominated Jacksonville on Tuesday, routing the Lady Titans
13-0.
Senior Erica Hutson had a haul, scoring four goals on the night, with senior Emma Selph came through with a hat trick (three goals). Senior Jasmine Ramirez also had a multigoal game, scoring two.
Adding one goal each was freshman Jordan Cloud, junior Karis Guthrie, senior Megan Harder and freshman Sharlyn Maldonado.
Sophomore Ally Alhajjaj had two assists in the victory, with freshman Abby Frazier, Harder, sophomore Catherine Harris, Hutson, Ramirez, Selph and sophomore Allie Stoll all adding an assist each.
The Benton boys are back in action on Tuesday, heading to Little Rock to take on the Parkview Patriots in conference play, while both the Panthers and Lady Panthers host Little Rock Christian Academy Thursday.