Hot Springs edges De Queen for 5A soccer crown

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—It took a generational superstar to stop De Queen from continuing its soccer dominance.

Hot Springs' Erick Guadron took home MVP honors and scored the goal that eventually put the Leopards away on Saturday, 3-1 on the University of Arkansas' Razorback Field.

“De Queen always has some the hardest competitors I've ever seen,” Hot Springs coach Cory Sturdivant said. “I've known coach (Stephen Sloan) for nine years now. Take nothing away from that program. This is everything we thought it'd be. We won 1-0 at our place and they won 1-0 at their place and we knew it was going to be a classic.”

The Leopards drew first blood when captain Leonard Dominguez found the net 11 minutes into the first half, but Hot Springs managed to tie it up when Guadron scored just before halftime and that was the score at the break.

Both teams felt each other out for much of the second half, and then De Queen thought it had taken the lead with 11 minutes remaining in the contest but the goal was disallowed by the referees.

“After that goal went away, it kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Sloan said.

The Trojans answered pretty quickly after that with a goal from Johnny Gonzales-Vasquez and then Guadron put the finishing touches on his illustrious career with a goal that put it out of reach with just a few minutes remaining.

“He's a competitor and he gives it everything he's got and we knew people were going to key on him this year,” Sturdivant said. “We've had so many kids step up and the character they've shown, it's phenomenal. It's a Trojan family and that's why they're where they're at.”

It was a defense of the title for Hot Springs, who defeated Valley View for the 5A state championship a year ago.