Lady Panthers can’t take Lady Cyclones lightly
■ Siloam Springs has beaten Russellville three times this season.
For the Siloam Springs girls soccer team, it’s going to take a fourth victory over Russellville this season for the Lady Panthers to win their fourth straight state title.
Siloam Springs and Russellville will play at noon Friday at Razorback Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas for the Class 6A state title and it will be their fourth meeting of the year.
Siloam Springs has won the previous three matches, twice by 2-1 scores during the regular season and a 5-0 victory over the Lady Cyclones in the 6A-West Conference championship on May 6.
Siloam Springs (23-3) has had tons of success against Russellville in recent years, winning 11 out of 12 games, including a 1-0 victory over the Lady Cyclones in last year’s state title game.
But those victories won’t help the Lady Panthers on Friday in this year’s state title game.
“We can’t sit back and think about that,” said Siloam Springs head coach Brent Crenshaw. “I mean, this is a brand new ballgame now.”
Most importantly for Siloam Springs, the Lady Panthers recognize this as well.
“They’re definitely capable of beating us,” said senior goalkeeper Anna Claire Lewis, a team captain. “They did it last year. No matter how many times we play them, we always have to play our best in order to beat them. They are a good team, but we have to play really good in order to beat them.”
The Lady Panthers are rolling heading into the Class 6A state tournament.
Siloam Springs has won eight straight games since losing at Tulsa Booker T. Washington 4-3 on April 17. The Lady Panthers have outscored their opponents 47-2 in that stretch and 119-19 overall on the season.
“They want to continue the tradition,” Crenshaw said. “They’ve talked about trying to build a dynasty.”
Russellville is also on the upswing.
Since getting blasted by Siloam Springs in the conference tournament, the Lady Cyclones rebounded to beat Greenwood 5-0 in the quarterfinals of the state tournament last Friday.
Then on Saturday, the Lady Cyclones (13-91) took a very talented Searcy team to a scoreless tie after 100 minutes of soccer and beat the Lady Lions 4-2 in penalty kicks.
Russellville hit all four penalty kicks it attempted and Onna Collins made a save in the period as the Lady Cyclones picked up the victory in kicks from the spot.
Marissa Williams, Rachel Prochazka, Cindy Gonzalez and Kate Lane all converted their PKs for Russellville (13-9-1).
“Onna Collins has been solid for us all year,” Russellville head coach Kelly Young said. “Anytime we get in a tight game she has been our savior. I have confidence that if we get into a tight match or a shootout she is going to give us that one save that can help us win the game. She is a great leader and the anchor of this team.”
Young said the Lady Cyclones were excited after the big win against Searcy.
“We were down two starting players going into that game with the injuries in the quarterfinals with Greenwood,” she said. “We started three freshmen and they really stepped up. Playing two hours of soccer with two less subs I can’t be more proud on how hard they fought.
“This team has been really hard to read. I don’t think much affects them. I do think we have played much harder since that last loss against Siloam. If anything, I think it fired them up.”
Crenshaw believes the Lady Cyclones will come into the championship game with something to prove.
“They’re going to come out and I can guarantee you they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “I bet they’re going to play even harder than they’ve played before. Wouldn’t be surprised if they do some things a little bit differently as far as marking, formation wise, so we’ll just have to see how they come out and adjust to that.
“But if they do change some things here and there, our girls seem pretty motivated right now. We’ve been talking the last couple of days, it doesn’t matter what happened the last three times. It doesn’t matter. You’ve got to come out and be confident, but you always have to
T hey’re definitely capable of beating us. They did it last year. No matter how many times we play them, we always have to play our best in order to beat them. They are a good team, but we have to play really good in order to beat them. Anna Claire Lewis SSHS senior goalkeeper
respect that they beat a very good Searcy team Saturday. That’s an eyeopener right there.”