With two weeks left in their regular season, the Greenwood Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs remain competitive in 5A West conference play and their quest for a playoff berth. In both cases, the two GHS squads are battling for fourth place in their respective league standings, hoping to claim the final postseason berth allotted to each conference.
Russellville, Siloam Springs, and Van Buren hold down the top three slots in the boys conference race with Russellville, Siloam Springs, and Harrison leading the way for the girls. The Lady Bulldogs are currently in fourth place just one point ahead of Shiloh Christian, with three games remaining. The Bulldogs are in sixth place, two spots and four points behind fourth-place Farmington, also trailing fifth place Harrison by one point. Their regular season ends on Friday, May 9th.
“Overall, the girls have improved from before spring break,” said Lady Bulldogs’ Head Coach Andrew Post. “We continue to get better on both sides of the ball. Ally Thomas is having the best offensive season of her four-year career, netting 12 goals so far this season. Payton Scantling has grown into a solid and tough center back this season, which is a new role for her. Trinity Spicer has also had an amazing past few games at keeper, making some big saves when we need them.” The Lady Bulldogs are 6-6-1 in league play this season with 19 total points.
GHS boys head coach Tyler Woods acknowledges that his Bulldogs are in a tough spot with time running out in the regular season. But he remains hopeful that his team will respond with a rush and get help from some other league members, knocking off the two teams Greenwood is chasing for that final playoff spot.
The coach explained the conference point system and later talked about some of the injuries and attrition that’s impacted his team’s performance this season. “We get three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss,” said Woods, whose Bulldogs have earned 11 points on the season with a 3-6-2 conference record.
Shiloh Christian, Van Buren
On Monday, March 10th, the Lady Bulldogs opened their league schedule at Springdale, facing the formidable Lady Saints of Shiloh Christian, newcomers to the 5A West this season. Unfortunately, the Shiloh girls dominated Greenwood in a 5-0 victory. Six weeks later, the two teams are locked in a struggle for fourth place in the conference and the last playoff spot. The private Christian school does not have a boys soccer program.
On Tuesday, March 11th, the Van Buren girls and boys came to Greenwood’s Smith-Robinson Stadium for the first 5A West conference soccer doubleheader of the season, splitting the two matches with the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs. The GHS ladies got three goals by senior Ally Thomas and held on for the 3-2 league victory. Unfortunately, the injury-plagued GHS boys were shut out in the nightcap, losing 3-0 to the Pointers.
Harrison
Greenwood’s first road trip in conference play happened on Thursday, March 13th, at Harrison, again with mixed results. The Lady Bulldogs fell 5-0 in the opener while the Bulldogs battled to a 1-1 tie, earning their first point in the league standings. The match was scoreless at halftime, with both teams playing solid defense. But after the Goblins scored in the second half on a long goal-scoring kick, the Bulldogs rallied to knot the score on a similar long-distance boot by David Coggin that hit the bottom of the crossbar and deflected into the net.
Alma
The Lady Bulldogs rebounded the following Tuesday, May 18th, at Alma, winning a close one, 3-2. Annalise Johnson, Ally Thomas, and Farah Crossno were responsible for the three GHS goals. But in game two, the Bulldogs dropped a high-scoring affair, 5-3. “We were missing our starting center back, Davin Cheek, and that made a big difference because we had to shift some guys around,” said Woods. Hudson Meeker accounted for two GHS goals while David Coggin scored the other one.
Farmington
On Thursday, March 20th, Farah Crossno netted the lone GHS goal for the Lady Bulldogs in a 1-0 squeaker at home against the Lady Cardinals of Farmington, earning their second conference win while picking up three critical points in the league standings. Then, in their first conference doubleheader sweep, the GHS boys completed the task by defeating the Cardinals in the nightcap, 3-0.
“We played them really well,” said Woods of his team’s triumph over Farmington. “It was probably our best game of the [season]. Landon Franklin scored the game’s first goal with an assist from Hudson Meeker. David Coggin added another first half goal for a 2-0 GHS lead at the break. Coggin added still another goal in the second half for the Bulldogs. “The defense did a spectacular job slowing [the Cardinals] down. They’ve got a couple really good players.”
Russellville
Returning from spring break, both GHS squads were fed a dose of reality on Tuesday, April Fool’s Day, with identical twin bill losses at Russellville, 4-0. The Cyclones and Lady Cyclones are among the best prep soccer teams in the state and are usually in the mix for winning state titles every season, especially the Russellville boys.
“It was 0-0 for most of the first half,” said Coach Woods of the boys’ contest. “[Russellville] is not the powerhouse they were last year, when they graduated 13 seniors, but they are still really good.” His Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs will get another chance to face Russellville next week (Tuesday, May 6th) at Smith-Robinson Stadium, hopefully with different results.
Siloam Springs
On the first Friday in April, the Lady Bulldogs fell to another league power, losing 6-1 to Siloam Springs at Smith-Robinson Stadium. Hannah Simpson netted the only GHS goal after the visitors led 4-0 at halftime. The Lady Panthers are one of three 5A West teams who have notched 10 league victories so far this season, along with Russellville and Harrison. In the nightcap, the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker, 3-2, to the Siloam Springs boys.
“We went down 3-0 and were playing with our backup goalkeeper, freshman Bentley Harvey,” explained Woods, “and he did a pretty good job, honestly. Siloam Springs is usually very good.” Hudson Meeker and David Coggin scored second half goals to put victory within reach, but the Bulldogs were unable to cash in on further scoring opportunities. “We had our chances to tie or win that game, but I was proud of our fight,” said the coach.
Mountain Home
After an open date on Tuesday, April 8th, the Lady Bulldogs broke their two-game losing streak by notching a 2-1 win on the road at Mountain Home on Friday the 11th. Ally Thomas scored both GHS goals, one is each half of play. The win added three more points to boost their standing in the league rankings. To make the long trip to Baxter County even sweeter, the GHS boys won, beating the Bombers, 2-1, also earning three points in the conference race.
“It was a must-win situation,” said Coach Woods of his Bulldogs’ victory over Mountain Home. David Coggin and Landon Franklin scored the two GHS goals. “It was a big win for us,” said the coach. “Any time you can ride four hours on a bus, eight hours altogether, and come back with a win, that was [huge].”
Shiloh Christian, Van Buren
On Monday the 14th the Lady Bulldogs flew solo at home against the Lady Saints of Shiloh Christian. But after dropping their first meeting of the season, 5-0, at Springdale, the GHS ladies fell again in the rematch at home, 4-1. The Shiloh girls led 2-0 at the half before Ally Thomas scored Greenwood’s lone goal on a penalty kick in the second half.
But the following day, April 15th, Tax Day 2025, the Lady Bulldogs rebounded with a critical 1-0 win over the Lady Pointers of Van Buren. Unfortunately, the GHS boys couldn’t complete the doubleheader sweep, losing 3-0 to the Van Buren boys, currently sitting in third place in the league standings, three spots ahead of Greenwood. “We had chances to score, but just couldn’t put them away,” said Coach Woods of the loss to the Pointers, who led 1-0 at the half.
Harrison
Two days later, on Thursday the 17th, the Lady Bulldogs repeated their Tuesday performance, losing to the Lady Goblins of Harrison, 1-0. Softening the blow somewhat for GHS fans, the Bulldogs salvaged the second half of the soccer double dip, winning a low-scoring struggle, 1-0, to stay alive in the conference race.
Landon Franklin scored early on a free kick, about 10 minutes into the action, assisted by David Coggin. “We just defended really well,” said the coach. “Our goalkeeper, [senior] Eli Trevino played well, along with our mid-fielders and the entire defense. That was a big three points [for us],” added Woods, referring to the conference standings.
Alma
Last Tuesday, April 22nd, the GHS ladies hosted the Lady Airedales of Alma, earning a critical 2-1 victory, worth three points in the conference race. Team scoring leader Ally Thomas netted both points for Greenwood, giving her at least a dozen goals on the season. In the nightcap, the Bulldogs battled the Alma boys to a 2-2 stalemate, earning one point in the conference standings. The GHS boys got an early goal off the foot of freshman Grant Fiala, his first of the season, but the Airedales knotted the score with a cheap penalty kick in the final seconds of the opening half.
Alma then took the lead early in the second half on a header into the net after a lucky bounce off the crossbar, putting the visitors up 2-1. But first-year soccer player Bailey Thibodeau, who also plays football, scored his first goal of the season and his career to tie the game at 2-all. Both teams had additional chances to score, but failed, keeping the game tied at the final buzzer. “We would have loved three points, but we did get a point out of it,” said Coach Woods of the tie.
Farmington
Last Friday the Lady Bulldogs earned a conference point with a scoreless tie at Farmington while the Bulldogs dropped a crucial match to the Cardinals, 1-0. Greenwood also played without the services of top scorer Hudson Meeker, who also missed the Alma game, out with an ankle injury. Fellow senior starter Braycen Austin was also out for the Farmington contest.
“That loss hurt big time for our playoff chances,” admitted Woods, who has dealt with numerous injuries and some player defections during the season, including the loss of two junior starters. “That put Farmington four points ahead of us, but we’re not mathematically out of it. If we can get a win this coming Friday at Siloam Springs, we’ll still have a fighting chance. We might need some help, but there’s an outside chance. It’s going to be a tall task, but these guys have played their butts off all season,” the coach concluded.
Cossatot River
The Bulldogs also played a non-conference match this past Monday, April 28th, at Smith-Robinson Stadium, but dropped the affair, 3-2. “That was definitely a winnable game,” said the coach. “I just think we lost our focus.” Exchange student Jacopo Spizuoco, a junior, and sophomore John Eckart were responsible for the two GHS goals. It was the first of the season for Eckart, who has seen more playing time recently with the injury to Hudson Meeker. “We would have loved to get a win and get some momentum going, but it didn’t happen,” lamented Woods. “So we’ve got to put it in the past, move on, and get better.”