El Dorado boys' soccer off to good start
El Dorado's boys' soccer program has gotten off to a 3-1-1 start going into the Spring Break.
The Wildcats opened the season with a 5-1 win over Warren. Jadon Cunningham scored two goals and had an assist. Eduardo Olmos and Ben Humphreys each scored goals with Humphreys adding an assist. An Andrew Lowrey corner kick resulted in an own goal.
El Dorado followed that win with a hardfought 0-0 tie at Hamburg.
“That game was really frustrating. It's one we should have won. Our team played well enough to earn the win, but it just didn't work out for us,” assistant coach Jay Brooks said. “Our defensive back line really helped us by turning back almost all of Hamburg's attacks as they consistently tried to play the ball over the top of us and get behind our guys. We have some improvements to make, but I was proud of them.”
The Wildcat back line was composed of center backs Bradley Claypoole and Patrick Sixbey, Hayes Jackson, and Alex Flores.
Less than 24 hours later, the Wildcats dropped a 4-1 decision to DeQueen at Memorial Stadium. The Wildcats scored when Flores sent a cross to the right side of the box to Cunningham, who headed it into the net.
El Dorado would open conference play with a 2-1 victory at Hot Springs Lakeside. The Wildcats struck early in the first half of the match, as freshman Le “Ben” Phouc Khoung maintained possession deep on the left side of the box, made very evasive
moves along the back line to get around the Ram defenders, and slid the ball across the front of the keeper where Cunningham was waiting to send it in from five yards out.
The Rams equalized and the majority of the remainder of the match was a physical back-and-forth battle with opportunities for each team to take the lead. With approximately eight minutes left in the second half, El Dorado earned a direct kick 20 yards out on the right side of the box. Cunningham punched the upper right side of the net with a strike travelling around the Ram defensive wall and not touched by the Lakeside keeper.
The remaining eight minutes of play saw the Rams pressure El Dorado hard with time winding down. Multiple athletic saves by senior goalie Dave Carruth prevented a Ram equalizing goal.
The Cats' last outing was a 6-0 win at Pine Bluff on March 19. El Dorado jumped out to a lead within two minutes of play as Humphreys received a perfectly weighted pass from Lowrey and found the net by striking low and to the right side of the Zebra keeper.
Lowrey accumulated his second assist of the match off a corner into Bradly Claypoole. Goals also came from Sixbey, Rodrigo Torres, Khoung, and RJ Thomas. Flores and Addison Dumas also added an assist each. The defense of Claypoole, Sixbey, Jackson, and Flores never allowed the Zebras to get deep into Wildcat territory, as the Cats were then able to get significant playing time and experience from their bench.
El Dorado will travel to Hot Springs on March 30th to face the Trojans in conference play. The Lady Cats will kick off at 5 p.m., with the Wildcats following at approximately 7 p.m.
El Dorado's home soccer games have been scheduled for Memorial Stadium this season.