The Siloam Springs boys soccer team played its first home game Thursday night at Panther Stadium and defeated Decatur 6-0.
It could be a while before the Panthers get to play there again -- or anywhere for that matter.
The spring sports schedule across the state was put on hold Thursday night by the Arkansas Activities Association, which said that all events from Sunday March 15 to March 30 were suspended due to concerns over the coronavirus.
While that news had not been revealed at the time of Thursday night's boys soccer game, there were suspicions that such an announcement would be forth coming. The Panthers did know at the time that they wouldn't be playing Beebe on Friday to open 5A-West Conference play as that announcement was made earlier on Thursday.
Head soccer coach Luke Shoemaker said he told his team to enjoy the game because no one was sure when they might get to play again.
"The guys, they've been asking," Shoemaker said. "They're not dense to it. They kind of understand what's going on in the world. We just try to motivate them the best we can, knowing that tomorrow we don't get to play our conference game."
"It's the most fluid situation I've ever been a part of in my career," Shoemaker added. "In any given minute, when I open my email, who knows what's going to be in there?"
The Panthers (4-1-2) scored two goals in the first half and added four more in the second half against the Bulldogs.
Danny Daughtery scored off a Franklin Cortez assist in the seventh minute.
Cortez found the back of the net later in the second half off a Christian Flores assist in the 31st minute.
Cortez assisted on Christian Ruiz's goal in the 50th minute, while Julio Maldonado scored unassisted in just a few seconds later for a 4-0 lead.
Daughtery scored his second goal off a Flores assist in the 56th minute, and Adan Montesinos scored in the 71st minute for the game's final goal.
"Our home opener, so they were excited about that," Shoemaker said. "Energy wasn't where it needed to be at the start. They kind of started to wake up in the second half, put together some good combinations and some goals in the back of the net. Now we'll just see where everything takes us and keep grinding on."
Siloam Springs 1, Van Buren 1
The Panthers battled a tough Van Buren Pointers team to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night at Blakemore Field.
After a scoreless first half, Siloam Springs got on the scoreboard first with a goal in the 58th minute. Danny Daughtery's free kick found Christian Flores to put the Panthers up a goal.
Van Buren answered around seven minutes later with a goal on a free kick from 45 yards out to tie the game in the 65th minute.
Up next
The Panthers' 5A-West Conference game against Beebe on Friday was postponed, and any games between March 15-30 have been suspended by the AAA.
Sports on 03/15/2020