Every goal the Siloam Springs boys soccer team set for itself for the 2019 is still in reach.
The Panthers remained undefeated at home and wrapped up the first half of 5A-West Conference play Friday with an 8-0 mercy rule of Vilonia at Panther Stadium.
The Panthers (9-4, 5-2) are in a three-way tie for second place in the 5A-West Conference with Greenbrier and Little Rock Christian -- both of whom beat Siloam Springs on their home fields earlier this year -- and all three trail first place Russellville, which the Panthers knocked off earlier this week.
All three of those teams will visit Siloam Springs over the next month.
"I just told them in there (in the locker room), every goal we set before the season is still attainable," said Siloam Springs coach Luke Shoemaker. "One of the goals was to be undefeated at home, which we continued that tonight. One of the goals is to be confernece champions, and if we finish the second cycle with a clean slate, we will have that goal."
The Panthers wasted little time in dispatching Vilonia (0-8, 0-7) on Friday night.
Seniors Chrisitan Marroquin and Eli Jackson each had a hat trick, while Jackson had two assists and Marroquin one assist.
Siloam Springs scored less than three minutes into the game on Jackson's first goal of the night and it took less than nine minutes for the Panthers to build up a 5-0 lead.
Junior Garza assisted on the first goal to Jackson wit 37:04 left, and Jackson found Marroquin for the second goal.
Marroquin blazed down the near sideline and crossed over to Jackson a 3 -0 lead with 34:05 remaining in the first half. Marroquin then scored two straight goals for a 5-0 lead.
Marroquin's first shot went in when a laser shot went through the legs of the Vilonia goalkeeper. The assist went to Eleazar Palacios.
Jackson assisted on Marroquin's next goal and Hugo Hernandez dished out the assist to Jackson for a 6-0 lead with a little more than 25 minutes remaining.
The three-goal night was Jackson's third of the season and he leads the team with 14 goals. Marroquin had a four-goal game earlier in the year and his three-goal night gave him nine for the year.
"When I came back for this job, those two guys (Jackson and Marroquin) were the first two guys I thought of," Shoemaker said. "In my opinion, together as a tandem, there's no forward pairing better probably in the state of Arkansas. When they're playing their best ball that gives us a chance against anyone. For them to continue to produce in conference games is big for us long term."
Senior Alex Rivas scored a pair of goals later in the first half to set the final score. The first goal was assisted by Jason Flores with the second coming from Ivan Sandoval.
"I told them one of the things about games like this is the goal is to get better," Shoemaker said. "It's not necessarily just about results but about improving for our big picture goals. I think we did that tonight, and we'll continue to do that."
Siloam Springs 2, Russellville 1
RUSSELLVILLE -- Round one went to the Siloam Springs boys soccer team on Tuesday night.
The Panthers scored a pair of second-half goals to defeat defending state champion Russellville 2-1 at Cyclone Stadium. It's the first meeting between the two teams since Russellville defeated Siloam Springs in the Class 6A finals last May.
"This was a big win for us," said head coach Luke Shoemaker. "I would say that we might be the best rivalry in Arkansas soccer. You look at the state finals back to 2011 and one of the two of us have been in that game (each year)."
Christian Marroquin assisted on a pair of goals to account for all of the Panthers' scoring.
The first came in the 42nd minute with a 45-yard pass that found Eli Jackson for the game's first goal.
The second came three minutes later in the 45th minute when Marroquin's free kick went to Junior Garza who scored.
Russellville did get a goal closer later in the second half, but goalkeeper Wyatt Church made more than 15 saves in goal for the Panthers.
"I was extremely proud of their effort and their passion throughout this game," Shoemaker said. "I really want to give a shout-out to Wyatt Church, who had over 15 saves. I had told him in our scouting report and pre-game that he needed to be assertive and command the box and he rose to the challenge. I have seen him play some great games, but this might have been his best.
"Junior Garza is another young man who has worked his tail off going all the way back to September. He puts in over four hours of film study a week, pushes himself at every practice, and today that all led to him being ready for the moment."
The win also comes after a disappointing setback at Little Rock Christian on March 29 when the Panthers had the lead twice only to lose 3-2.
"We have struggled to finish games on the road this year and most of that had been from beating ourselves," Shoemaker said. "I know this team has the ability and more importantly, the heart, to battle through and compete with anyone. Russellville has a very talented team and they had several chances but the boys grinded it out and finished this one off."
Up next
Siloam Springs is scheduled to return to action at home against Beebe at 5:45 p.m. Friday.
Sports on 04/07/2019