Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
War Eagles halt Wildcats
Despite loss, Springdale Har-Ber earns conference title.
ROGERS — Springdale Har-Ber attacked, attacked and attacked some more. But Rogers Heritage goalkeeper Andrew Montoya was having none of it.
Montoya made one game-saving goal after another Friday night in a 2-0 win against the conference-leading Wildcats. With the win, the War Eagles improve to 12-4 on the season and 9-4 in 7A-West play with one match remaining next week against Van Buren, which is winless in the league.
The Heritage keeper was stout in the net all night and especially early on, saving five Har-Ber shots on goal in the game’s opening eight minutes. In one sequence, Montoya saved three shots in a 15-second span to keep the match a stalemate.
“He’s a special kid. He’s a
special kid,” Heritage coach Christian Saavedra said. “He’s one of those that puts in the work and that’s what he gets. There’s no minute where he’s not in the game. He’s always tuned in and that’s what you need back there. He’s had a couple matches like that.”
Once the match reached halftime, Montoya had saved upward of 10 Wildcats shots and sent the teams into intermission locked in a scoreless tie.
Physical play ruled the second half. Each side was assessed at least one yellow card and Har-Ber’s Jesus Zizumbo was disqualified from the match with 10 minutes, 38 seconds to play after receiving a red card.
Erol Banuelos, though, put the War Eagles ahead for good with a pair of second-half goals. His first score came with just under 19 minutes to play on a header off of a corner kick. Then, with two minutes to play, he added another to seal the win.
“He’s a special kid just like Andrew,” Saavedra said of Banuelos. “I’m going to miss him next year.”
Despite the loss, Har-Ber (16-3, 11-3 7A-West) still had some celebrating to do. With Springdale High’s 5-1 win against Rogers High Friday, the Wildcats earned their second conference title in school history, coach Cory Butler said.
“It’s pretty special,” Butler said. “None of these kids were a part of (the first one). It’s definitely something special. … We had some chances, missed some shots tonight, but their goalie came up big.
“We’ve just got to be ready to play Friday.”
Bentonville High 3, Bentonville West 0
Jose Castro, Sam Uzere and Harrison Dickerson each scored in the second half as Bentonville knocked off West in 7A-West action Friday at Centerton.
The win snapped a threematch losing skid for Bentonville (9-6-1, 8-6), which will be the fifth seed in the Class 7A state tournament and will play Thursday at Fort Smith Northside.
Van Buren 3, Fayetteville 2 (shootout)
The Bulldogs (5-13, 2-11) lost 3-2 in a shootout against the Pointers (6-16, 2-11). The match was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.
The result of the match put three teams — Fayetteville, Van Buren and Bentonville West — into a tie for the sixth and final spot from the conference for the state tournament. Fayetteville has a make-up match on Monday at Rogers High. Van Buren also has a make-up on Monday against Rogers Heritage.
GIRLS Springdale Har-Ber 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Wildcats (13-6, 10-4) cruised to a win to cap off conference play Friday night at Rogers Heritage.
Vanessa Reynoso put Har-Ber ahead in the first half with a goal less than 14 minutes in. Erika Orellana and Megan LaMendola then tacked on the Lady Wildcat’s final two goals.
Har-Ber carried a 3-0 lead into halftime and was never truly threatened by Heritage’s attack in the second half. Har-Ber closed out the regular season with five consecutive wins. Heritage drops to 5-12 and 4-9 in league.
Fayetteville 7, Van Buren 0
The Lady Purple’Dogs (164, 11-3) won their third match in four days to secure the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West Conference and a first-round bye in the state tournament.
Freshman Georgia Templeton recorded a hat trick and Reagan Resz had two goals, including the first of the match off a corner kick by Abby Vaught just 93 seconds into regulation.
Morganne Browning had the second goal and Resz scored the third before Templeton put the next three into the net. A goal by Kamilla Sarvestani off an assist by Emery Young created the final margin.
The shutout against the Pointers (0-13, 1-18) was Fayettevile’s ninth for Fayetteville this season. They outscored opponents 13-1 during the three games this week.