Lady Panthers hammer Greenwood, clinch berth

n Megan Hutto scored three goals with an assist as Siloam Springs won 7-0.

Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs junior Brooklyn Buckminster fights off Greenwood’s Courtney Meyers as Lady Bulldogs goalkeeper Carley Zirbel charges in during the first half Monday.
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs junior Brooklyn Buckminster fights off Greenwood’s Courtney Meyers as Lady Bulldogs goalkeeper Carley Zirbel charges in during the first half Monday.

As good as this season has been for the Siloam Springs' girls soccer team, the Lady Panthers had no guarantees they would get a chance to extend their string of three straight Class 6A state titles.

With a big win on Monday, the Lady Panthers made it official.

6A-West Conference Girls Soccer Tournament

Monday, Wednesday, Saturday

Monday’s results

Game 1: No. 1 Siloam Springs 7, No. 8 Greenwood 0

Game 2: No. 4 El Dorado 4, No. 5 Lake Hamilton 1

Game 3: No. 2 Benton 4, No. 7 Sheridan 0

Game 4: No. 3 Russellville 5, No. 6 Texarkana 2

Wednesday’s games

Game 5: Greenwood at Lake Hamilton, 5 p.m.

Game 6: Sheridan vs. Texarkana, 5 p.m.

Game 7: El Dorado at Siloam Springs, 5 p.m.

Game 8: Russellville at Benton, 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Fifth-place: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, TBA

Third-place: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, TBA

Championship: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, TBA

* All games played at highest seed school. Teams must win one of their first two games to advance to Class 6A State Tournament.

Siloam Springs earned its berth in the Class 6A state tournament with a 7-0 win over Greenwood in the opening round of the 6A-West Conference Tournament at Panther Stadium.

Siloam Springs is the host of the Class 6A state tournament, which will be held May 11-13 at Panther Stadium and across the street at Sager Creek Soccer Park.

But all along, head coach Brent Crenshaw has maintained that the Lady Panthers had to earn their way to the tournament before it could think about winning another state championship, and they did just that on Monday.

"Actually it is a relief," Crenshaw said. "You never know what is going to happen in this game. You can be the dominate team and just not score, and the other team gets one good chance and finishes it and we lose. I've seen it happen. I am glad we have clinched at least an appearance at the state tournament."

Junior Megan Hutto scored three goals and recorded an assist, and junior Audrey Maxwell was one missed penalty kick away from another hat trick, finishing with two goals and an assist as Siloam Springs picked up its third win this season against Greenwood. The Lady Panthers defeated Greenwood 6-0 at Panther Stadium on March 16 and then picked up another 6-0 win at Greenwood on April 18.

Hutto and Maxwell each scored twice in the first half as Siloam Springs led 4-0 at halftime. Hutto added her third goal in the second half along with single goals from Brittany Pilcher and Joselinne Andrade as the Lady Panthers inflicted the mercy rule.

Maxwell scored in the fourth minute off a Hutto assist to give Siloam Springs a 1-0 lead, and Maxwell then assisted on Hutto's first goal in the seventh minute to make it 2-0.

Freshman Shelby Johnson was fouled inside the 18-yard box in the 21st minute and Maxwell scored on the ensuing penalty kick to make it 3-0.

Hutto took a pass from junior Brooklyn Buckminster and scored from long range for a 4-0 lead. The assist was Buckminster's eighth of the year.

"I think we've gotten better where we're showing up in the first half," said Hutto, who is second on the team with 18 goals and leads the Lady Panthers with 17 assists. "Last year, in the first half it always took us a while to get where we wanted to be, but now I feel like we're coming out really hard at the very beginning of the game, and it continues to the second half. It's really different from last year."

Maxwell, who added to her single season school record of 35 goals, had a chance at goal No. 36, but missed a penalty kick early the second half after Laura Morales was fouled in the box.

Hutto picked her teammate up though with a goal in the 60th minute.

With a lot of attention being paid to Maxwell's record-breaking season, Crenshaw agreed that Hutto is having a standout year as well.

"She is something special," he said. "She is so strong on the ball, quick, and has a great vision of the game. She has 17 assists and 18 goals. That is impressive."

Pilcher's goal with 19:30 on an assist from Hadley Crenshaw gave the Lady Panthers a 6-0 lead and cut the remaining time down 10 minutes. It was Pilcher's second goal and Hadley Crenshaw's eighth assist.

Andrade scored with 8:02 left to set the final score.

Siloam Springs, the No. 1 seed, won its school record 19th game and advances to Wednesday's semifinals against No. 4 El Dorado, which defeated Lake Hamilton 2-1 on Monday.

The matchup with the Lady Wildcats will be a rematch of last year's Class 6A semifinals, which Siloam Springs won 6-0 at El Dorado.

No. 8-seed Greenwood will play No. 5 Lake Hamilton on Wednesday with the winner advancing to the state tournament and the loser's season ending.

Sports on 05/03/2017