Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Penalty Kick Shifts Momentum
LINCOLN BOYS STORM BACK FOR 3-2 SOCCER STATE WIN
LINCOLN —A penalty kick goal shifted momentum as Lincoln erased a 2-0 deficit while upending Riverview, 3-2, in first-round boys soccer action at the Class 3A State tournament at Harrison.
On Thursday Riverview ( 7- 6-2) made running an offense tough on Lincoln (12-4-2) in the early going. The Raiders frustrated the Wolves by dropping nine men back and most of that portion of the match was played on Lincoln’s side of the field.
Lincoln coach Mason Wann said the Wolves didn’t play well in the first 30 minutes.
“One of those goals just kind of slipped through and the other one they kind of got behind our defense on the next one,” Wann said. “It was just a normal, routine play that [goalie Jakkson] Grisham usually makes but got through.”
“With under 10 minutes in the half we’re down 2-0 and we haven’t had any life. We couldn’t play on their side of the field. They were dropping nine back so it was looking real bad for us really. I thought it would be tough to get two or especially three goals,” Wann said.
An aggressive move by Lincoln senior Rafeal Regaldo-Pena began a shift in momentum. Lincoln advanced the ball upfield and Pena got tackled in the box drawing a foul earning the 5-foot-3, 120-pound senior a penalty kick. Pena converted the penalty kick into a goal and Lincoln trailed 2-1 at the half.
“We came out in the second half and we were playing a lot better after that goal. We got some energy,” Wann said.
Hot weather also became a factor in the match. Temperatures soared into the nineties with no transition from a cool spring with soccer teams playing in hot and humid conditions they hadn’t experienced all season.
“It was super hot. We hadn’t played any matches like that all year because it was right at 3 p.m. and the weather’s been so much hotter this week,” Wann said.
To compensate for the heat Wann began subbing and rotating players in and out and suddenly the Wolves discovered their conditioning paid off.
“We just had more gas than their team. They started dragging and our guys were still playing pretty hard,” Wann said.
Lincoln scored two goals in the second half while shutting out the Raiders over the final 50 minutes.
Lincoln junior Tsimtxhua Vang headed a goal into the net to tie the match 2-2. The tying score disheartened the Raiders, who were feeling the impact of the heat.
“From there they lost even more momentum and they were dragging and frustrated,” Wann said.
Pena scored his second goal of the match by chipping it over the goalie, who came out and challenged him.
“From then on they were super gassed and our guys were still not fresh, we were worn down for sure, but we were just playing hard. I think our kids just wanted it a lot,” Wann said.
According to Wann at the end the Raiders started getting chippy. Their seniors were getting frustrated. Wann talked to Riverview’s coach after the match. He told Wann it was mainly their seniors. They were just getting frustrated to go out.
Grisham finished with 24 saves Thursday.
“A lot of them were in the first half until we kind of settled in,” Wann said.
Lincoln won the match, 3-2, to advance into a Class 3A State quarterfinal showdown against Central Arkansas Christian on Friday.