Lady Wildcats stop Benton 6-0 in soccer

El Dorado was able to wear down a speedy Benton Lady Panther squad on its way to a 6-0 home victory Friday evening.

The Lady Wildcats grabbed a lead in the 20th minute of the first half when Kerri Dear scored. Thanks to a goal by Ashley Almager in the 25th minute, the Lady Wildcat advantage expanded to 2-0. Benton surrendered another goal late in the first half when Suzanna Haygood scored in the 37th minute.

At the intermission, the Lady Wildcats led this 6A-South affair 3-0.

In the latter stages of the game, El Dorado continued to pull away from Benton.

Angel Leveritt scored in the 18th minute of the second half. And after McKenzie Reep made a goal in the 30th minute, the Lady Wildcats led 5-0. Leveritt once again struck for the Lady Wildcats as in the 36th minute she scored, helping to increase the El Dorado advantage to the eventual final of 6-0.

“Benton is a fast team. But once we settled down and adjusted – we played much better,” El Dorado coach Neville Matthews said. “It was good that we faced a team like that. It will help us get ready for the state tournament.

“Once we started to settle down and moved the ball around better, the goals started to come.”

The Lady Wildcats, who improved to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play, were also dominant defensively. Rarely was Benton able to penetrate deep into the Lady Wildcats’ defense. When Benton was able to get close enough to put up a shot, El Dorado goalkeeper Orie Davis easily kept the Lady Panthers from scoring. Davis successfully defended both of the Lady Panthers’ shots on goal.

“It was a pretty good game,” Matthews said. “Overall, it was a good team effort.”