Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Twice as nice
Bentonville girls, Rogers boys win state soccer titles.
FAYETTEVILLE — Sydney Suggs could see the corner kick coming her way, and she knew it was up to her after she realized her Bentonville High teammate didn’t have a chance at the ball.
The freshman then put her knee on the ball and placed it into the goal to break a scoreless tie, and the Lady Tigers went on to win their second consecutive Class 7A state girls soccer championship Saturday with a 4-0 victory over Cabot at Razorback Field.
“I didn’t even realize I scored,” Suggs said. “I looked over at somebody and said ‘Did I just do that?’ It was so surreal. I couldn’t believe it happened.”
Suggs’ goal came after Bentonville (22-2) had a number of scoring opportunities not go its way. The Lady Tigers couldn’t convert on a pair of other corner kicks and shots on goal.
That all changed when Bentonville earned another corner opportunity. Madison Howard fired from the far sideline, and Suggs converted to put the Lady Tigers on the board with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left before halftime.
“I don’t know if we’ve scored off a corner kick all year,” Bentonville coach Kristina Henry said. “For this to be the day, to break through, that was huge. I tell them they just have to be there. If you’re there, you have a chance.
“The corner kicks are designed for somebody to get on the end of the ball. They all have their runs, and they know what they are supposed to do. Hopefully, somebody is on the end of it.”
The rest of the match belonged to the senior trio of Lauren Hargus, Victoria Mitchell and Emma Welch. Hargus, a Central Arkansas signee, picked up an assist from Mitchell and scored from the right side three minutes later to give Bentonville a 2-0 halftime cushion.
Those two worked together again on two occasions in the second half. Mitchell fed Hargus for her second goal, this time on a kick from about 25 yards out, for a 3-0 lead. Then, Hargus — who was named the outstanding player — completed her hat trick when she took a pass from Welch shortly after a corner kick and drilled a shot into the goal from just outside the box on the right side.
“I wanted nothing less than to win this game,” said Hargus, who was named the outstanding player. “This was the toughest match of the season, and I knew I had to pull out a huge game. I had confidence in myself, and I think I did a pretty decent job.”
Cabot (23-3), the runnerup for the second straight year, went on the attack from the outset and had a scoring opportunity denied after a scramble inside the box. The Lady Panthers played most of the early stages of the match on the attacking side of the field, but had nothing to show for it.
Bentonville’s defense, which was solid throughout the match, showed their determination in another sequence when Cabot had three or four scoring opportunities in the second half. Goalkeeper Maddee East was momentarily shaken up during a scramble in front of the net, but Lady Tiger defenders kept the ball out of the goal and eventually used a header to knock the ball out of bounds.
“They were pushed,” Henry said. “The work they did to weather that, I mean, that’s inspiring to the attack. The attacking players see that and say ‘OK. We’ve got to get it done.’”