The Siloam Springs boys soccer team. got an unexpected wakeup call in the second half of Friday's 5A-West Conference match against Beebe.
Leading 3-0 at halftime, the Panthers gave up a goal to Beebe's Daniel Martinez less than two minutes into the second half to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Panthers responded with five straight goals to crush the Badgers 8-1 at Panther Stadium.
"At halftime we talked about improving," said SSHS head coach Luke Shoemaker. "That first half was pretty sloppy for us to be honest. It wasn't our best soccer. So we talked about coming out, having a lot of intensity and coming out and scoring a lot of goals in that first 10 minutes. But I didn't account for (Beebe) putting one in. That was on a set piece and us not marking up. But I think it woke us up a bit and it carried on."
Four Panthers -- Eli Jackson, Christian Marroquin, Eleazar Palacios and Jose Posada -- all scored two goals each for the Panthers.
Julio Maldonado and Franklin Cortez, in his first game back from a head injury, each had two assists, while Marroquin, Gerson Matias and Christian Flores all had assists.
Jackson had two goals int he first half, both assisted by Maldonado, while Cortez found Palacios for another goal.
After Beebe cut the lead to 3-1, Marroquin answered with a pair of goals. The first on a bending free kick and another assisted by Matias.
Marroquin assisted to Posada for a 6-1 lead, and Flores found Palacios for a 7-1 lead. Cortez got his final assist on Posada's second goal to set the final score.
Girls
Siloam Springs 6, Beebe 0
In what has become a recent trend for Siloam Springs girls, the Lady Panthers waited until the second half to explode offensively.
After netting two goals in the first half, Siloam Springs (9-5, 7-1) scored four goals in the second half to finish off a shutout victory of the Lady Badgers.
"We struggled to find the net in the first half," said head coach Abby Ray. "The girls played well and dominated possession. We just lacked urgency. At halftime we talked about raising the intensity. They answered that call in a big way in the second half. We walk away with a 6-0 win but several things to improve on. The great thing about this team is that we are 7-1 in conference and have not yet played our best soccer."
Laura Morales assisted on Madi Race's goal in the 10th minute to give the Lady Panthers a 1-0 lead. Morales scored herself in the 21st minute off an assist from Hailey Dorsey for a 2-0 lead, which they took into halftime.
Hadley Crenshaw scored off of Morales' second assist of the night in the 53rd minute, and Morales got her second goal of the game off a Shelby Johnson assist in the 59th minute.
Crenshaw got her second goal of the night off a Brooklyn Shreve assist in the 61st minute, and Karen Flores got the final goal off a Bethany Markovich cornerkick in the 72nd minute.
"The seniors had a strong night," Ray said. "They know the games they have left are limited. They're making the most of them. They were involved in five of the six goals.
Up next
Both the boys and girls soccer teams return to action at Alma on Tuesday before hosting Greenbrier on Thursday.
Sports on 04/14/2019