Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville turns away Springdale
SPRINGDALE — Bentonville did to Springdale High what the Bulldogs had been doing to others.
Bruno Mariscotti scored less than five minutes into the game and the goal held up for a 1-0 victory for Bentonville on Friday at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. Goalie Davis Hogue turned away a handful of scoring opportunities against Springdale (8-2, 3-1), which entered the game with three consecutive shutouts in conference play.
“When two good teams get together (scoring) chances are going to be at a premium,” Bentonville coach Mike Devaney said. “We emphasized to the guys that when we get chances, we have to take them, because there were probably going to be very few of them.”
Bentonville led 1-0 in a fast-paced first half in which both teams had scoring chances.
Mariscotti put the Tigers ahead with 36 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first half. Springdale had two excellent scoring opportunities but the Bulldogs were turned away each time. Hogue made a save in front of the net against Salvador Gonzalez, who dropped to his knees in frustration after his hard kick was denied.
The Bulldogs were frustrated a second time later in the first half when a Bentonville defender blocked an attempt by Manuel Soto in front of the net.
“We always tell our goalkeepers to make one or two saves that can keep us in the game, and certainly he did that,” Devaney said. “He kept us in it with a couple of really, really important saves.”
Bentonville threatened to increase its lead in the first half when Jose Castro used some deft footwork to maneuver into scoring position, but his kick from about 12 feet sailed over the Springdale net.
GIRLS
BENTONVILLE HIGH 8, SPRINGDALE HIGH 0
Emma Welch scored four goals and Lauren Hargus netted three during an easy victory over the Lady Bulldogs.
Bentonville peppered the Springdale goal from the outset, leading 6-0 at halftime and increasing the margin to 8-0 with two more goals less than two minutes into the second half.
Bentonville had more than a dozen shots on goal in the first half against Springdale goalie Claire McElroy, who made several saves but had little help on defense in trying to contain the Bentonville assault.
Sydney Suggs also scored for the Lady Tigers (7-2, 4-0), who will host Rogers on Tuesday. Springdale (2-9, 1-3), which beat Bentonville West earlier in the week, will attempt to regroup against Van Buren on Tuesday.
ROGERS HIGH 4, VAN BUREN 0
Sienna Nealon scored two goals to help the Lady Mounties improve to 3-1 in 7A-West Conference play.
Sydney Figenskau and Grace Carroll also added goals for Rogers (5-3-1), which led 4-0 at halftime.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 6, BENTONVILLE WEST 2
Giselle Estrada recorded a hat trick and Faith Snow added two more goals as Har-Ber improved to 2-2 in 7A-West play Friday night.
Estrada netted her first goal in the first half and Snow tacked on a pair to send the Lady Wildcats into halftime with a 3-0 advantage. Erika Orellana also scored in the win for Har-Ber.