Strong second half lifts Panthers over Goblins
Siloam Springs’ boys soccer team finally broke through against Harrison on Tuesday.
The Panthers scored a pair of goals in the second half, ending a three-half scoreless stretch against the Goblins, and Siloam Springs held on for a 2-0 victory in a rainy 5A/6A District 1 match at Panther Stadium.
The Panthers and Goblins played to a scoreless tie on March 9 in the opening game of the Harrison REMAX Cup, and that scoreless streak extended to the first half of Tuesday’s game.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to cash in for a score in the second half.
Brian Andrade played a ball to Julio Maldanado for a goal with 35 minutes, 29 seconds left in the game to put the Panthers on the scoreboard.
Around 10 minutes later, Andrade scored a goal of his own with the assist going to Jose Serrano as Sioam Springs pulled ahead 2-0 with 24:57 left.
“We came out in the second half and I thought for the first 10 to 15 minutes we played really, really well,” said Siloam Springs head coach Brent Crenshaw. “We played attacking soccer.”
It was the second straight win for the Panthers, after recording one victory in their pervious seven matches.
The Panthers have battled some injuries, including forward and leading scorer Eli Jackson and defender Jorge Perez, and they were also missing Luke Gumm, who was on a spring break trip to Europe.
“We’ve still got a couple of kids out and then Jorge played limited minutes tonight,” Crenshaw said. “It was good to see some of their other kids step up.”
Crenshaw singled out sophomore left back Danny Daugherty for stepping up.
“I thought Danny Daugherty at left back played amazing tonight,” Crenshaw said. “For a kid who’s had hardly any varsity experience, he has done really, really well.”
The shutout was goalkeeper Wyatt Church and the Panthers’ fifth clean sheet of the season.
“The difference is we got outplayed this game where the
last game (on March 9) we gave ourselves a chance,” said Harrison coach Chris Pratt. “We made more costly mistakes today, and I didn’t make the adjustments needed to give us a better chance to win.”
Crenshaw is hoping the win against Harrison will keep the Panthers trending in the right direction.
“I think our confidence level will build from this,” he said. “That’s the thing as long as we continue to get better. I think we’ve gotten better the last three or four weeks. We need to peak at the right time. That’s what it’s all about, playing our best soccer at the end of April.”
Siloam Springs 2, Greenwood 0
The Panthers won their third straight match with the 2-0 win at Greenwood.
Eli Jackson scored the Panthers’ first goal for a 1-0 halftime lead. Franklin Cortez added a goal in the second half to set the final score.
Defensively, it was Siloam Springs’ sixth shutout of the season.
Siloam Springs improved to 7-4-3 overall and 2-0 in 5A/6A District 1 play.
Greenwood, under the direction of former Siloam Springs assistant coach Luke Shoemaker, dropped to 3-9 overall and 0-2.
Up next
The Panthers are scheduled to play at Russellville on Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s 6A-West Conference championship, which Siloam Springs won in Russellville. On Friday, the Panthers travel to a neutral site at Clarksville to play Class 6A Benton for a nonconference match.