Soccer can be an ironic sport, and Monday's nonconference girls game between Van Buren and Siloam Springs was the perfect example.
Siloam Springs struggled with its possession and overall gameflow against the Lady Pointers, something that has been a strength in previous games.
Siloam Springs 4, Van Buren 0
Van Buren 0 0 — 0
Siloam Springs 1 3 — 4
First Half
Siloam Springs — Gibson, 35:08
Second Half
Siloam Springs — Palacios, 33:32
Siloam Springs — Gibson, 13:05
Siloam Springs — Palacios, 4:28
But the Lady Panthers excelled in another area that had been lacking, and at the end of a game it's the most important stat on the scoreboard -- scoring goals.
Ingrid Gibson and Odalys Palacios both scored a pair of goals as the Lady Panthers shook off the Lady Pointers for a 4-0 win at Glenn W. Black Stadium.
"We didn't play as well as we've been playing as far as connecting with each other," said Siloam Springs coach Jason Bowen. "But we did score goals, and that's the big thing. We had been getting the ball in front of the net and not being able to score."
Bowen said there have been a handful of games this season where the Lady Panthers (7-5) have dominated possession of the ball and yet walked away with nothing to show for it, including last Friday's 2-0 loss at Springdale in a 7A/6A-West Conference game.
"We've had four games this year where we've played really well and come up with zero points out of it," he said. "We controlled that (Springdale) game. That's the funny thing about soccer. ... The better team doesn't always win. We gave them two corner kicks and they got two goals."
Siloam Springs cashed in an early scoring chance in the first half of Monday's game when Khenli Harp drove the ball down the home sideline, crossed to the middle where the ball found the foot of Gibson for a 1-0 lead with 35:08 remaining.
The Lady Panthers struggled over the rest of the first half to maintain possession. Van Buren (1-9) had a pair of shots on goal by Sami Maki and Kelsey Trejo.
Siloam Springs regrouped in the second half.
With 33:32 remaining in the game, Palacios caught up to a pass from Jaci Hoelscher and got it past the Van Buren keeper for a 2-0 lead.
With 13:05 left, Gibson was fouled inside the 18-yard box, and she scored on the ensuing free kick for a 3-0 lead.
Palacios set the final score with 4:28 left in the match after a breakaway run of around 25 yards before scoring in the lower right corner.
"We definitely need to be finishing in front of the net," Bowen said. "Those two (Gibson and Palacios) have been getting some chances in front of the net and not been putting them in there. but tonight they did OK."
Van Buren coach Nathan Almond said his team didn't possess the ball enough to mount any offensive threat.
"We couldn't possess the ball," he said. "We can't create any scoring opportunities. I think we put three passes together. That may be the most we were able to do. We defended OK, but you have to have possession in order to score."
Both teams will play again on May 8 at Blakemore Field in Van Buren for their 7A/6A-West Conference match.
The Lady Panthers return to league play on Friday at Bentonville. Siloam Springs is 0-1 in league play after last Friday's 2-0 loss at Springdale.
Sports on 04/09/2014