State champs return
SSHS soccer teams ready to defend titles
The Siloam Springs boys repeated at Class 6A state champions in 2017, navigating through a tough 6A field to win the program’s fourth overall title, joining championships in 2011, 2012 and 2016.
To win a third consecutive title will take another tremendous effort from the Panthers, but third-year coach Brent Crenshaw thinks this team has the makeup for it.
“This group of seniors has been used to that in the last few years,” Crenshaw said. “They play with a chip on their shoulder. They don’t take a day off. They know if they do, a team like Mountain Home, Benton, Russellville, a good team will knock them off. They really push themselves. You’re not going to see a lack of effort any time soon.”
The Panthers (21-5-1 in 2017) host Springdale Har-Ber on Friday for a Arkansas Activities Association benefit game. They’ll officially open the season at home against Bentonville West on Tuesday.
Siloam Springs returns eight starters from last year’s team, and it would have been nine starters had two-time all-state defender Aric Lee not torn his ACL in October playing club soccer.
Losing Lee, a two-year captain, will be a tough blow for the Panthers, but Siloam Springs has plenty of options to go to.
Senior John Brown signee Jack Bos (six goals, two assists) anchors the four-man defensive front for the Panthers at center back.
“He’s our leader back there,” Crenshaw said. “He’s bigger and stronger. He will come up on our set pieces again because he’s our No. 1 guy in the air.”
Senior Jorge Perez will hold down another center back position. Perez has worked on foot speed and decision-making in the offseason, which will help him in 2018, Crenshaw said.
The outside back positions will be manned by seniors Luke Gumm and Alejandro Telles, with Gumm on the left side and Telles on the right.
“Luke Gumm, we originally thought this year we would move him to outside midfielder because he loves to attack,” Crenshaw said. “After Aric went down, Luke returns to the back and he can still attack. He has more space to attack. With him being in that spot, the left back needs to be the best athlete, because they mark up on an opponent’s best forward.
“Alex Telles, it’s funny. We scrimmaged a couple of weeks ago and he was matched up with Eli (Jackson). I never realized how fast (Telles) was until I saw him outrun Eli.”
Senior Eli Simpson also will play some in the back along with junior Gerson Matias.
“Eli Simpson has really impressed me this year,” Crenshaw said. “I think he’ll give us some minutes this year. He’s really grown this year as a player.
“Gerson Matias is another one that played a lot of JV for us last year. He’s very fast and very coachable. He sacrifices his body.”
Those defenders will help protect junior goalkeeper Wyatt Church, who enters his second year as the Panthers’ starting goalkeeper.
“He played pretty much every minute of every game last year,” Crenshaw said. “He came up huge in (penalty kicks) in that semifinal against Hall last year. He’s grown and size is a good thing. He’s been training on a regional ODP (Olympic Development Program) team. He’ll bring back a lot of experience.”
The Panthers will play four midfielders.
Seniors Irvin Rios and Brian Andrade will hold the center midfield positions, while Jose Serrano and Julio Maldanado will
Christian (Marroquin), he’s better now than he was last year. He went over and played with (Arkansas) Comets. His confidence and knowledge is so much better. He’s bigger and stronger. With him and Eli ( Jackson) up top, they’ve got a year under their belt. Brent Crenshaw SSHS soccer coach
play on the outside.
Rios is a three-year starter and has played all over the field.
“He’s a quiet leader who goes out every day and puts in the work,” Crenshaw. “If we keep him healthy, he’ll control the center midfield.”
Andrade played a little forward last year and will move back into the midfield.
Maldanado, a sophomore, has tremendous speed, Crenshaw said. Serrano, meanwhile, can play outside, inside or at forward.
“He’s our utility guy,” Crenshaw said.
Senior Alex Marroquin, junior Hugo Hernandez and sophomore Eliaz Palacios could also play in the midfield.
Up top, the Panthers will turn to a pair of junior forwards in Christian Marroquin and Eli Jackson.
Christian Marroquin led the Panthers with 20 goals and 12 assists and was named the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Newcomer of the Year.
“Christian, he’s better now than he was last year,” Crenshaw said. “He went over and played with (Arkansas) Comets. His confidence and knowledge is so much better. He’s bigger and stronger. With him and Eli up top, they’ve got a year under their belt. It took a while to figure out and they’re impressive to watch.”
Jackson battled through injuries early last year but came on strong in the second half of the season and scored 16 goals. Jackson had a three-goal hat trick in the 6A state finals against Mountain Home and was named state tournament MVP.
“Eli, I hate to say it, but he’s gotten bigger and stronger,” Crenshaw said. “He’s better on ball. Size is such a huge factor with those two.”