Again!

n The Panthers won their second straight championship and their fourth overall.

Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Austin Shull hoists up sophomore Eli Jackson after Jackson scored the first of three goals on Friday in a 4-0 win against Mountain Home in the Class 6A state championship game.
Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Austin Shull hoists up sophomore Eli Jackson after Jackson scored the first of three goals on Friday in a 4-0 win against Mountain Home in the Class 6A state championship game.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Siloam Springs boys soccer team went through a stretch this season where it struggled to score goals -- 11 straight games where it had two or less.

Finishing wasn't a problem on Friday for the Panthers in the Class 6A state championship.

Sophomore Eli Jackson put on a show for Siloam Springs, finishing with a hat trick, and the Panthers added another goal in a 4-0 victory to spoil Mountain Home's undefeated season at Razorback Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

It's the second straight Class 6A state title for Siloam Springs (21-5-1) and fourth overall, with titles in Class 5A in 2011 and 2012. The Panthers also set a single-season program record with 21 wins.

"It's hard to describe the feeling," said senior midfielder Austin Shull, who assisted on the Panthers' third goal. "It's kind of like Christmas morning when you wake up, you know, you're so excited? We all were so excited for this game. We knew that Mountain Home was going to play aggressive. We knew they were going to play hard. We just knew we needed to play our game and just play how we always play, which is quick. It ended up working for us."

Mountain Home (18-1), known for its bunker-down defensive style of play, actually got the game's first shot by midfielder Xaco Baonza in the game's 14th minute, but Panthers' goalkeeper Wyatt Church was there for the save.

Jackson got the Panthers on the board in the 21st minute on a play that he didn't give up. Christian Marroquin played the ball down the right flank and Francisco Sifuentes played it in the box. Sifuentes crossed to his left and found Jackson, who fired. The shot deflected off of Mountain Home keeper Spencer Foster, but Jackson stayed with the play for the game's first goal with 19:49 left.

Church made a couple more saves in the first half to keep Siloam Springs ahead 1-0 at halftime.

The Panthers pulled ahead 2-0 less than three minutes in the second half on a penalty kick from Marroquin.

Sifuentes was fouled just inside the 18-yard box by Mountain Home's Mikey McLean. The Panthers were awarded the penalty kick, which Marroquin banged home in the lower right corner for a 2-0 lead with 37:18 remaining.

Less than a minute later, Jackson picked up his second goal.

Shull served up a free kick from in front of the Panthers' bench and found Jackson's head with 36:24 remaining and a 3-0 Siloam Springs lead.

Jackson scored his final goal with 26:12 remaining when Marroquin served the ball into the box and Jackson streaked in front of Foster and flicked the ball over him for his third goal of the game.

"It was just a great ball, and I was able to get something on it and put it past the keeper," said Jackson, who was named Most Valuable Player.

"That's just a great touch," said Siloam Springs head coach Brent Crenshaw. "And he probably knew he was going to get killed by that goalkeeper, who was huge. You sacrifice your body. That's what you have to do sometimes."

The Panthers finished the season with seven straight wins. Siloam Springs finished second to Russellville in the 5A/6A District 1 Conference during the regular season, but the Panthers upset Russellville 2-1 in the 6A-West Conference Tournament finals on May 6.

Siloam Springs then beat Searcy 6-0 and Little Rock Hall 1-1 (3-1 PKs) to advance to the program's eighth state title game appearance.

"Nobody gave us a chance at the beginning of this year since we graduated five seniors this last year," Crenshaw said. "That's just been our motto all year is, 'hey, nobody believes in us.' The coaches believe in you. So go out there and prove it. For us to score four goals in the final, never thought we could against (Mountain Home), but it's exciting for our kids."

It was a tough loss for Mountain Home to swallow after winning 18 straight games heading into Friday's championship. The Bombers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to knock off Little Rock Hall in the 6A-East Conference finals before beating El Dorado and upsetting Russellville in the 6A state tournament.

"We've caught breaks all season," said Mountain Home head coach Bryan Mattox. "We didn't catch them today. You can't complain about that. I told the kids if your season is not enough without a state championship, it was not going to be enough with it. The memories they have, the friendships, the bus rides and trips, these kids have had a good time here at the state tournament, in season and practice, close friends. That's what this is all about. This is a game. Yes we're disappointed. It's going to hurt really bad for a long time. We wanted to win this thing, but there's more important things in life."

Mattox was impressed with Siloam Springs in person after watching them last week in the 6A state tournament.

"Siloam Springs, the thing that stood out to me from the very beginning with them was top to bottom their balance," Mattox said. "They're a solid team. They're well organized. They're very well coached. There's not a weakness. They continue to do what they do. They don't make mistakes. They don't give you anything easy. They're probably the most complete team in the tournament."

Sports on 05/21/2017