Bulldogs roll over Warriors in soccer contest
DECATUR — In the final game of week six, the Decatur boys’ soccer team squared off against its nearest rival, the Centerton-based Life Way Christian Warriors. They met Thursday night as the Bulldogs march toward the state 3A conference playoff in Harrison in mid-May.
Last season, the first meeting between these two teams in Centerton on April 8, 2021, ended with the Bulldogs taking the match, 5-1. However that was not the case for the second meeting in Decatur on May 3, 2021, in which the Warriors took the win, 1-0, and secured a spot in the May 13, 2021, playoffs in North Little Rock as the number three seed behind Decatur. This year’s contest would end much differently for the Bulldogs.
Robert Thang kicked things off for the Bulldogs with the first goal of the night at the 9:10 mark of the first half. Three minutes later, Andres Revolorio picked up another successful run on the goal for a 2-0 lead.
One of the most impressive moves of the contest came near the close of the first half when Kenneth Barrios picked up the ball near the front of the Warrior net. He fought to get it into the net but the backline defenders were too powerful at the time. So Barrios turned around and made a beautiful over-the-head kick that cleared the top of the goalie’s head and went into the net, catching the players, coaches and spectators by surprise.
The Bulldogs led 3-0 over the struggling Warriors at this point. With less than 90 seconds left in the half, the Bulldogs pulled off another attack on the Warrior-defended goal for the fourth point. The first half ended with Decatur in firm control of the contest, 4-0, over Life Way.
Two more goals in the second half sealed the win for the Decatur Bulldogs, 6-0, over the Life Way Christian Warriors.
The only team that has defeated the Bulldogs thus far this season is the topranked Green Forest Tigers who Decatur plays at Bulldog Stadium on April 12 with a 7 p.m. start.