Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Brady, Magre help respective squads
It takes more than fancy footwork to win in high school soccer.
Lauren Magre uses her head as well.
Magre scored two goals, both on headers, to lead Fayetteville to a 4-3 victory over Bentonville in the semifinals of the Class 6A girls state soccer tournament at Conway. Magre also scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Conway and two goals in a 6-0 win over Cabot.
For her effort, Magre is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls Athlete of the Week. Connor Brady of Van Buren is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette boys Athlete of the Week.
Both goals by Magre in the semifinal game came after Bentonville had taken the lead over Fayetteville. Magre tied the match 1-1 then 3-3 against Bentonville, which won the conference championship in the 6A-West.
Caroline Bertalotto then scored to send Fayetteville into the championship game for the second straight year against Bentonville West, which beat Fort Smith Northside 3-1 in a semifinal game. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. in Benton.
Magre will make back-toback appearances in a championship game while leading Fayetteville in scoring for the second consecutive year.
“The bigger the game, the more she gets fired up,” Fayetteville Coach Joe Thoma said. “But she does it in a quite way. She’s a great player who’s really pushed herself to get better, and it shows.”
Van Buren needed someone to pick up the slack on the pitching mound and the Pointers turned to Brady, a starting catcher who’ll play next season at Eastern Oklahoma State College. Brady overcame a rough start and willed his way to complete-game, 12-3 victory over Batesville at the Class 5A state baseball tournament in Hot Springs. Brady struck out 12 and threw 100 pitches while making only his fifth start on the mound for the Pointers.
“I just went out and didn’t try to do too much,” said Brady, who struck out the last six batters he faced. “I threw strikes and it worked. It was the best outing I’ve ever had, and it was a great time for it.”
Van Buren advanced to play Marion in the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday in Benton. The Pointers are the defending state champions in Class 5A.