Bentonville girls, boys shut out Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE — Ginger Olson didn’t mind that Angelina Diaz was getting all the attention from Fayetteville’s defenders.

That just made it easier for the Bentonville High freshman to score Wednesday night. Olson provided what proved to be the only goal as the Lady Tigers slipped past Fayetteville, 1-0, in the 7A-West Conference opener for both teams at Harmon Field.

Olson was on the near side of the field when Diaz avoided heavy traffic long enough to fire a long pass from the other side. She then fired her shot before the defense could recover, and it went into the right side of the net with 16 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first half.

“Wasn’t that beautiful,” Bentonville coach Kristina Henry said. “Lauren Holly played a really nice ball out to Angelina on that wing. It sucked the defenders down, and Ginger was there. That was a nice little finish for a freshman.

“These freshmen make up a good little group. They’ve played at a high level and had quality coaching. They’re fitting in nicely.”

It proved to be the only scoring the Lady Tigers (4-1, 1-0) needed as the remainder of the match turned out to be a defensive struggle and shots on goal were rare. Fayetteville (4-2, 0-1) had its most serious scoring threat earlier in the match, but Bentonville goalkeeper Maddee East dove to her right and made the save.

“I thought the first 20 minutes was a fun and exciting match and a back-andforth game,” Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. “We had a couple of opportunities that would have changed the game if we had scored. It gives you so much energy when you score.

“Bentonville did a great job defensively of shutting us down. The keeper made a good stop there. After that, it was just back and forth — a typical game between Fayetteville and Bentonville.”

Bruno Mariscotti and Miguel Wilches had a goal apiece as Bentonville blanked Fayetteville in earlier boys Wednesday.

Both teams played a scoreless first half, then Mariscotti delivered his goal with a header off Jose Castro’s corner kick with 34:37 remaining. Bentonville (2-0-1, 1-0) added an insurance goal with 2:43 left when Wilches broke behind Fayetteville’s defense and scored after a long free kick by Hayden Moehring.