Panthers blow through Cyclones

Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs junior forward Aldair Umana battles Russellville’s William Crisostomo for the ball Tuesday during the two teams’ 7A/6A-Central Conference game at Panther Stadium. Siloam Springs defeated Russellville 3-2.
Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs junior forward Aldair Umana battles Russellville’s William Crisostomo for the ball Tuesday during the two teams’ 7A/6A-Central Conference game at Panther Stadium. Siloam Springs defeated Russellville 3-2.

Siloam Springs had a response each and every time Russellville scored a goal Tuesday night.

The result was a hard-fought 3-2 victory against the defending 6A champion Cyclones on a rainy night at Panther Stadium.

The win was Siloam Springs' fifth straight after an 0-3-1 start. In that five-game span the Panthers have scored 20 goals after only scoring three in their first four games.

"Our boys have been playing together and playing well for the last few weeks," said Siloam Springs coach Chuck Jones. "We've talked about the more we share the ball, the more goals we're going to put in the net. We've done that."

The Panthers fell behind 1-0 in the 22nd minute of the first half when Landon Short scored on a set piece to put Russellville ahead 1-0.

It took Siloam Springs less than three minutes to tie the game.

Senior defender Edwin Ramirez scored on a Siloam Springs set piece to knot the score at 1-1 in the 25th minute. It was Ramirez's first goal of the season, and the assist went to Irvin Rios.

Senior midfielder James Pollard put the Panthers ahead 2-1 in the 57th minute of the second half. Aldair Umana played a ball through to Pollard who dribbled into the interior of the Cyclones' defense and scored for the 2-1 lead.

"James, just fantastic, lifted it up and over the keeper," Jones said. "Aldair set him up nicely and James put the ball in the net."

Nearly three minutes later, the Cyclones tied it back up on another set piece goal by Short in the 60th minute.

"Set pieces have been our Achilles heel so far this year," Jones said. "That's probably the fourth or fifth goal we've given up this year on set pieces."

Luckily for Siloam Springs, plenty of time was left on the clock and the Panthers were able to answer once again.

A free kick from Pollard found its way to the feet of sophomore defender Steven Iglesias who scored in the 68th minute for the 3-2 lead.

For Jones, he saw a much better effort in the second half than the first.

"I felt like in the first half we let Russellville bring it to us a little bit," Jones said. "We played a little tentative and a little slow. I kind of challenged them at halftime, and they came out and gave better effort, and we had a great result."

Siloam Springs finished the first half of 6A conference competition with a 2-0 record, while Russellville dropped to 0-2, having also lost at Greenwood.

"Same old story for us all year," said Russellville coach Jared Fuller. "We try to push hard offensively, and that results in a defensive breakdown. We've just got to learn to be more patient. We've got an old group here, but a lot of young players, and those young players don't have a lot of composure yet. Hopefully by the end of the season we'll put it all together and get wins in those close games."

Siloam Springs plays at Greenwood on May 1 and at Russellville on May 5 in the second round of 6A conference games.

"We want to be playing our best soccer going into the (6A state) tournament," Fuller said. "Hopefully these are learning games and we'll find our stride."

Siloam Springs 3, Russellville 2

Russellville 1 1 -- 2

Siloam Springs 1 2 -- 3

First half

Russellville -- Landon Short, 22nd minute

Siloam Springs -- Edwin Ramirez, 25th minute

Second half

Siloam Springs -- James Pollard, 57th minute

Russellville -- Landon Short, 60th minute

Siloam Springs -- Steven Iglesias, 68th minute

Siloam Springs 2, Conway 0

CONWAY -- The Panthers won their sixth straight soccer match Friday with a 2-0 win on the road against the Wampus Cats.

James Pollard and Aldair Umana scored goals for the Panthers (6-3-1, 4-1 7A/6A-Central).

The Panthers return to action Tuesday for a nonconference game at Van Buren

Sports on 04/19/2015