FAYETTEVILLE -- Audrey Maxwell saw the open goal and fired away as hard as she could.
The great look proved to be all Siloam Springs needed to win its third straight state soccer championship.
Maxwell's goal with 16 minutes, 48 seconds left lifted the Lady Panthers to a 1-0 victory over 7A/6A-Central Conference foe Russellville in the Class 6A state final at Razorback Field on Friday.
The win is Siloam Springs' third straight Class 6A championship, but it's the first state title for first-year head coach Brent Crenshaw, who was hired to coach the soccer program last summer.
In the aftermath of the victory, Crenshaw was asked if winning a state title felt as good as he dreamed it would be.
"It's better," Crenshaw said choking back tears. "It's better. ... I'm not a crier. I'm just so happy -- happy for these kids, this community. We didn't play our best today, but we found a way to get that one goal late and held on."
Maxwell said the team was happy to deliver Crenshaw his first state title. All three of Siloam Springs' state titles have come under different head coaches with Jason Bowen in 2014, Chuck Jones in 2015 and now Crenshaw in 2016.
"It was awesome," Maxwell said. "We loved getting it for him and we worked really hard for him this season."
The victory was Siloam Springs' second win against Russellville in three games this season. The Lady Panthers won 4-1 in Siloam Springs on April 12, but Russellville won 3-2 on May 3.
The deciding goal Friday came late in the second half after a cornerkick on Siloam Springs' end of the field.
Maxwell took the kick from the near corner, and as the ball came out near the edge of the 18-yard box, Russellville's goalkeeper Onna Collins came out to make a stab at the ball.
Collins got her hands on the ball but it popped free, right to Maxwell, who fired on an empty goal with her right foot.
"I just hit it as hard I could, and it went in," said Maxwell, who was also named MVP. "That was awesome. It feels amazing to win with my team. Nobody was the best player. It was a team effort."
Russellville coach Kelly Young said Collins made the right play on the ball, but the Lady Cyclones (11-9-1) failed to clear it.
"Yeah my keeper did the right thing," Young said. "She came out and made a great save for us. Somehow it just dropped out of her hands. We still had a chance to clear it and just didn't get it cleared. She played a fantastic game. Had we won, she would have been the MVP for sure, kept us in the game all night along."
Crenshaw said Siloam Springs noticed on film and from previous meetings that Collins was aggressive on balls that came into the box.
"Watching film we noticed she comes off her line a lot and early," Crenshaw said. "We talked about that a lot on cornerkicks and set pieces. That second ball that comes out, if she doesn't get it the goal's going to be open, and it fell for us today."
Siloam Springs dominated the possession but couldn't muster up many good looks at the goal. The Lady Panthers' best chance came in the first half and nearly had a goal but Collins kept the ball out on a Maycee Lance stab.
Mostly, the Lady Panthers (13-8-1) were outnumbered on the offensive side of the field as Russellville often kept heavy numbers on its side.
"They stayed deep on us," Crenshaw said. "They knew our speed was pretty good. They kind of took that away from us. We had to find other ways to break them down. We didn't play the best that we can play, but they grinded it out and found a way there at the end."
The loss ended Russellville's eight-game winning streak. The Lady Cyclones were 3-8-1 overall before the streak, going through growing pains as a young team.
"They're a young team," Young said. "I had a bunch of freshmen playing for me, so another year of experience under their belt's definitely going to help out a little bit."
Sports on 05/22/2016