The Siloam Springs boys soccer team kicked off a match against Greenwood on Monday with a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the 6A State tournament with a win.
The Panthers took up the challenge and blew out Bulldogs 7-1 at Panther Stadium.
Aldair Umana opened up the scoring just more than five minutes into the match. Umana put in a great individual effort on the only unassisted goal of the match for the Panthers, playing through a pair of defensemen on the left side of the field before sending a shot into the far right side of the net.
The next goal came 11 minutes later. Ricardo Aguilar sent a corner kick to Daniel Sierra, who had the ball knocked away, but recovered and sent a high arcing shot up and over jumping goalkeeper Kenny Sweeney and back down into the empty goal.
Greenwood responded with a pair of quality chances in quick succession. Filippo Raschia took an open shot that Panthers goalkeeper Jose Yanes had to make a high save on. Two minutes later, Yanes barely repelled another Greenwood chance when Aric McKinney took a breakaway. Yanes jumped forward to challenge McKinney and got most of his shot from about 15 yards from the goal. Yanes' deflection looped up and barely over the Panthers' crossbar.
After recovering the corner kick, the Panthers charged back down the field. Aguilar took a pass from Alejandro Telles in open space and sent a laser of a shot past Sweeney and into the far side of the net, about a foot below the crossbar.
The Panthers closed the first half with a commanding 4-0 lead off of another goal with 11 minutes left in the frame. Defenseman Austin Shull sent a lead pass off of Eli Jackson that was corralled by Aguilar as the pair took a two-on-two rush. Aguilar moved the ball to Jackson, past the defense, and Jackson scored on a shot to the right of Sweeney.
The Panthers didn't sit on their substantial score after a first half that saw the home team outshoot the visitors 12-4. Umana recorded his second goal of the afternoon after taking an Aguilar pass around the goalkeeper and over a diving Greenwood midfielder T.J. Whitmier.
After the Panthers took a 5-1 lead, the game took on a more physical tone. A pair of Greenwood players received yellow cards in a three minute span while trying to spark life into their team. It would work, and after taking a pair of fouls from the Panthers within 30 yards of the goal, Greenwood was awarded a penalty kick on a third foul, this time in the box.
Raschia, who had one of Greenwood's best scoring chances in the first half, took the penalty shot and beat Yanes to the left side of the goal.
The Panthers closed the match with two more goals, one from Omar Vazquez on a set up pass from Christian Marroquin, and the other an own goal. Vazquez took a pass from Jackson and tried to work it into the far post, just wide. The ball instead hit a Greenwood defender and bounced into the open net.
"I've said since offseason their work ethic on the practice field is the best I've seen in 20 years of coaching," Coach Brent Crenshaw said. "The boys continue to play better every time they step onto the field."
Siloam Springs played a 6A game at Russellville on Tuesday night. Results were not available at presstime.
General News on 05/04/2016