After a back and forth first half that featured missed opportunities on both sides, the Siloam Springs boys soccer team pulled out a 2-0 win against McAlester (Okla.) to complete Day 1 of the Panther Classic late Friday night at Panther Stadium.
The match was the first ever meeting between the two programs and the first loss for McAlester this season.
Despite some strong pressure in the first half, McAlester took a scoreless tie into the intermission. Fransisco Sifuentes helped lead the Panther attack, bringing pressure up the right side of the pitch.
"Austin Shull and Fransisco, they go out there and they have good pace," said Siloam Springs coach Brent Crenshaw.
The Panthers kept up the pressure throughout the first half, handily outchancing the visitors. But time and time again, Siloam Springs would be stymied by McAlester goalkeeper Kaden Webb.
"He did a good job, don't want to take that away from him," said Crenshaw. "But we made him look really good."
Crenshaw said the main problem his team faced was getting quality shots on goal. Panther opportunities were plentiful, but there were plenty of missed shots and even more shots that were fired directly at Webb.
"And we worked on actually finishing from the flanks two days ago," Crenshaw said. "They went out there in the second half and tried to do those things, but it was just one of those nights that we couldn't score.
However, in the second half, the Panthers would finally break through Webb.
After taking a shot that was blocked out of bounds with about 25 minutes left in the match, Shull took a throw in that dropped between Panther attackers and the defenders in the box and rolled halfway across the goal mouth. The ball found its way to Sifuentes, who pounded it into a yawning net, as Webb was guarding the short side.
The Panthers took full control of the momentum, nearly scoring again on the next possession. Shull took a rebound off Webb just minutes later, but was unable to get by Webb his next shot.
Siloam Springs kept pressuring McAlester in deep, though their possessions gave way to odd man rushes for McAlester. Strong one-on-one defending, including a cross-field tackle by Irvin Rios with under ten minutes to play.
Finally, with three minutes remaining, the Panthers' pressure paid off again. Christian Marroquin created a turnover in McAlester's backfield. Marroquin took a shot, but it was repelled by Webb. Webb's rebound bounced away from Marroquin, to Webb's left, where Christian Ruiz-Vega was waiting. Ruiz-Vega made no mistake from a few yards out, and he landed the final goal of the evening.
The win takes Siloam Springs to a record of 10-2. McAlester falls to 5-1 on the season.
Siloam Springs had a pair of other games in the tournament on Saturday, starting with a match against Holland Hall. Results were not available at presstime.
Siloam Springs returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Russellville in a 5A/6A District 1 match. It's also a rematch of last year's Class 6A state championship game, which Siloam Springs won 2-0.
Siloam Springs 6, Harrison 1
Siloam Springs led 5-1 at halftime and scored another in the second half to set the final score in a 5A/6A District 1 match against Harrison at F.S. Garrison Stadium.
"Boys controlled match from the beginning," said head coach Brent Crenshaw. "We think we found a lineup and formation that is best for our group, and they really showed the understanding of these ideas on Tuesday night. Our possession was great, our speed of play was great and we were able to score five in the first half. It allowed us to play our bench players the majority of the second half to give them some experience and they did well."
Eli Jackson scored in the fifth minute on an assist by Aric Lee, followed by a goal by Austin Shull in the seventh minute assisted by Luke Gumm.
Francisco Sifuentes scored in the 30th minute on a Christian Marroquin assist, and Marroquin scored in the 37th minute off a pass from Noah Slater. The Panthers' fifth goal of the first half came on Jackson's second goal from Alejandro Telles.
The Panthers' final goal came in the second half from Christian Ruiz-Vega off an Eduardo Rojas assist.
Sports on 04/02/2017