El Dorado to open state tourney against Marion

El Dorado will play host in the 5A State Soccer Tournament, which begins today with games at Memorial Stadium and the Soccer Complex. The Lady Wildcats bring a No. 1 seed into the tournament but didn’t know who their first round opponent would be until games were played Monday night.

The Lady Wildcats, winners of the 5A South, will meet Marion, the No. 4 seed from the 5A East. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

On Tuesday, El Dorado coach Neville Matthews admitted he had little to no information about the Lady Patriots.

“I played them some years back, maybe five or six. We played them in a state tournament. I beat ‘em but that doesn’t mean it’s the same team,” said Matthews.

Marion brings a reported record of 6-8-4 overall. The Lady Patriots went 5-5-4 in the East, which was dominated by Searcy and Jonesboro.

El Dorado (13-1) isn’t as concerned about the opponent. Matthews said the Lady Wildcats will focus on themselves, especially early in the tournament.

“I’m not really worried about it. I think we’ll be O.K. If we do what we’ve been doing all year, we should be O.K.,” said Matthews, who was asked the key to the game. “Not to stress the game and just play what’s in front of them, play like they’ve played all season. They can’t get into the statistics and how much Marion beat this team by and all that stuff. Just play our game and play well and we’ll get the results.”

As for hosting the tournament, Matthews doesn’t believe his team will get distracted by hometown expectations.

“I think it’ll actually will help,” he said. “Number one, they’ll be sleeping in their own bed. They’re not staying in a hotel room. They’re at home. We don’t play until five. We play at five during the regular season so the muscle memory should be good. We normally play at five. I think those are some of the good things that are going in our favor, sleeping in our own beds and playing the regular time we always play on our home field with our home crowd. I think we’ll be O.K.

“They’re excited. They’re ready to go. They’re ready.”

Penny Chanler/Special to the News-Times Battle for the ball: El Dorado's Marleigh Bonsall battles for possession in front of the goal during a contest earlier this season. The Lady Wildcats will take on Marion in the 5A State Tournament today at 5 p.m.