Leopards, Lady Leopards ready to regroup from conference defeats against De Queen, Robinson
The hometown Malvern Leopards and Lady Leopards soccer teams had back-to-back challenges in 7-4A Conference competition in recent play to fall to De Queen and Joe T. Robinson.
Malvern hosted De Queen last Thursday at Claude Mann Stadium on David Alpe Field. The Lady Leopards competed tough, but were shut out 8-0. Goalie Yelena Hogan came up with multiple saves and stops throughout both halves of action against De Queen. The Leopards only had a 3-0 deficit at halftime, but De Queen sparked for three more goals scored in the second half while Malvern’s Kaelob Chadwick soared for the Leopard’s lone goal to avoid the shutout in defeat, 6-1. Goalies DJ Culp and Dakota Dillon each guided productively in the goalie box against De Queen.
Tuesday, the Leopards and Lady Leopards made the trip to the Capital City in the Rock for league play against the Robinson Senators and Lady Senators. Unfortunately, the Lady Leopards suffered a 6-0 loss to the Lady Senators and the Leopards fell 8-1 to the Senators in the first of their two game season meeting in league play.
Malvern soccer head coach Seth Roberts knew both battles were tough match-ups for his Leopards and Lady Leopards. Following Malvern’s home loss to championship caliber De Queen, Roberts anticipated another big challenge in Little Rock against Robinson. Although Malvern wasn’t able to prevail in the first match-up, Roberts knows his Malvern teams will work towards a classic bout when Robinson visits Leopard Country at Claude Mann Stadium in a few weeks.
“Robinson currently sits on top of our side of the conference, so we knew it was gonna be a tough matchup, Roberts said.
“The girls played well in love ball action. Most of the goals we conceded were on set pieces where we just made too many mistakes on staying with our mark. We did well clearing the ball defensively but gotta get better at pushing the line up after the clear so we don’t stay on defense,” Roberts said.
He mentioned, “The one thing I love about this team is they play hard until the clock hits zero no matter the score or situation of the game.”
Roberts stated about the Leopards play against Robinson, “The boys played a tremendous first half just gave up too many uncharacteristic goals. We did great offensively just weren’t able to finish enough quality opportunities.”
He emphasized the guys knew after the game that it was a match they let get away from themselves. “It sounds weird when you look at the final score but we feel we match up well with them. This is a game we are really looking forward to when Robinson comes to Malvern on April 19. Lots of positives to build on just have to keep getting better day by day,” Roberts said.
Today, the Leopards and Lady Leopards travel to Bauxite for conference play to regroup back into the win column in senior high boys and girls soccer competition.