Tiger Boys Soccer Team Makes State

HAMBURG WINS 4-0

PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove (10-7-2, 8-3) boys soccer team were blanked 4-0 by Hamburg (20-21, 9-0) in their first-round state tournament game Friday.

Prairie Grove entered the state tournament, having scored 70 goals in 18 games, and allowing 50 goals against their defense. Hamburg came in with a better ratio. Hamburg had 91 goals scored in 21 games, while giving up 22 goals defensively, just a little more than 1-goal-per-game.

Prairie Grove had fewer than 20 assists on the year while Hamburg had more than 30. Hamburg’s top scorer Alan Lemus ended the year with 33 goals on 68 shots in 23 games. In contrast, Josh Brant, who placed ninth in the State 4A cross country meet to attain All-State honors as a distance runner last fall, finished as the Tigers’ leading scorer with 28 goals in 5 fewer games.

Hamburg’s Ronaldo Mondragon tallied 20 assists on the season, while the Tigers’ Asende Lubende was tops in assists with 7 for Prairie Grove. Coming in, the Tigers knew they were facing an opponent with a structured offense. Yet, the excitement rose as the student body gathered outside the high school cheering them on as the buses pulled out bound for the state tournament.

Neither Brant nor Lubende were able to penetrate the Hamburg net. The Lions led 1-0 after the first half and added 3 more goals in the second half to pull away with a 4-0 win.

The loss eliminated Prairie Grove from the state tournament while Hamburg advanced only to be beaten 3-1 by Dardanelle Saturday. The Tigers lost 6-0 to Dardanelle on April 7.

A 4-3 win over Gentry at home May 5 assured the Tigers of a state tournament berth. The game was tied, 2-2, at halftime before Prairie Grove scored 2 goals to Gentry’s 1 in the second half.