ROGERS — The Bentonville girls soccer team won its third consecutive 6A Western Conference championship with a dominant victory Tuesday night.
Gracie Jones had two goals and an assist in the first half and Riley Ammons had two goals as the Lady Tigers defeated Rodgers 5-1 to win the league title at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Bentonville (14-2-1, 6-0-1) added three more points for a league-leading 19 points total with one game remaining against a 6A West opponent. Obtained. After opening league play with a tie against Fayetteville, the Lady Tigers have won six straight games.
Bentonville coach Steve Porter said this was a team effort for his team, which was also last year's Class 6A state champion.
“Honestly, it's always about team performance,” Porter said. “If there are no assists, there are no goals. If the defense doesn't do their job, they have to score more. …Everyone plays a role. It all starts with the mentality of wanting to dominate and have the ball.” It costs time and forces the other team to play a lot of defense. ”
Bentonville was chasing Rodgers for much of the night.
Jones' first goal came with 29 minutes left in the first half. He added his second goal with 3:23 left before halftime.
“I'm really happy for her,” Porter said of Jones. “She's put in a lot of effort and she's come really close with a lot of chances. Last Friday.” [against Springdale], she had great looks and the goalie made some stops against her, so it's great that they finally hit the back of the net. she deserves it. ”
Jones felt like the early goal helped take away the advantage from his teammates.
“The mentality of our team has definitely changed because we went into this situation knowing we had something to prove behind the scenes,” said Jones, who signed with the University of Kansas. “So by waking up early, I think it encouraged the team to keep pushing and go into the next gear.”
Jones assisted on Ammons' goal less than two minutes into the second half. Ammons ran the ball and pushed it in, giving Bentonville a 3-0 lead.
Rodgers (8-5-1, 4-2) came on with a goal from Deja Martinez with 25:23 left in the second half to make it 3-1.
However, Bentonville responded with two more goals.
Devin O'Daniel scored with 18:54 left to take a 4-1 lead. Ammons added a second goal late in the game, clinching the final score.
“They're very tough to defend and they have some really good players,” Rodgers coach Oscar Cardona said. “These are people who make a difference.
“We had to play in the second half. [change]. Obviously we are two goals behind. Now we have to change the way we play, the formation. Hopefully we can score a goal and see if we can turn it around. Obviously, a mistake killed us. After all, that's the game. ”
boys
Rogers 3, Bentonville 1
The Mounties defeated the Tigers to maintain first place in the 6A West standings.
Bentonville took a 1-0 lead on Joseph Brooks' header off a corner kick with 9:49 left in the first half.
Rodgers (10-6, 5-1) scored the tying goal less than a minute after Erik Ramos scored.
The Mounties took the lead on Jesus Manzanera's goal with 1:15 left in the first half.
Cesar Hernandez scored the winning goal with 27:50 left in the second half.
Bentonville (7-7-1, 3-3-1) had to play most of the second half with 10 men after Brooks received a red card.
The Mounties entered the game tied for first place with Fayetteville, but with Springdale's win over Fayetteville they became the sole lead. Rodgers leads Springdale in points, 15-14.
