The Greenwood High School girls and boys soccer teams are three weeks into the 2022 season and head coaches Andrew Post (girls) and Tyler Woods (boys) and their assistants are still working hard to put the right players on the field with the start of 5A West conference play. Both the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs were slated to play at Van Buren on Tuesday afternoon before traveling to Vilonia on Thursday.

Lady Bulldogs

“It's been a slow start thus far for the varsity girls,” admitted Coach Post after his girls got off to a 1-4-2 start, including a loss to Russellville last week in their 5A West opener. The Lady Bulldogs are young this season with only five seniors on the roster, but just three were projected as starters. So, there’s a lot of teaching and learning taking place with the younger players undergoing trial by fire and gaining valuable experience.

The GHS ladies opened their season with a benefit match at Smith-Robinson Stadium against Little Rock’s Pulaski Robinson on February 22nd in chilly weather conditions. But the cold temperature didn’t seem to affect the Lady Senators, who easily won the contest, 5-0. Since then, Pulaski Robinson has gone on to post a 4-1 record, losing only to Pulaski Academy, 1-0.

A week later the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Dardanelle for their official season opener, but once again came up on the short end of a 3-1 score. Greenwood’s lone goal was scored by Tula Whittington, a junior. Two days later, on March 3rd, the GHS girls hosted the Lady Cardinals of Farmington and battled to a 1-1 tie.

Those matches set the stage for a girls and boys weekend tournament at Smith-Robinson Stadium on March 4th and 5th. On the girl’s side the Lady Bulldogs managed to earn another 1-1 tie in their opener against Clarksville. Greenwood’s single tally was scored by junior Claudia Inzerillo.

Game two of the tournament pitted the Lady Bulldogs against the Lady Pointers of Van Buren, and the home team came away with their first victory of the season, 1-0, on a solo goal by promising freshman Ally Thomas. But Greenwood dropped it third and final tournament contest to Fort Smith Southside, losing to the Lady Mavericks, 3-0.

The Lady Bulldogs then opened conference play against Russellville at Smith-Robinson Stadium last Thursday and lost in another shutout, 5-0. Clearly, the GHS girls are struggling offensively to score goals and must improve in that area. Hopefully, that improvement will come when Coach Post gets his full complement of players on the field at the same time.

“We have yet to play a game with all our starters,” he explained. “We’ve had some injuries and are [still] missing one from basketball. [We also] lost another starter who was dismissed from the team. So, it's been a slow start to the season with some hurdles to jump over. We’re adjusting our lineup and trying to build chemistry, [but] it will take time to hit our stride.”

Bulldogs

The GHS boys and Coach Woods have struggled as well in the early going, constructing a 2-4-1 record thus far, also starting 5A West conference play with a loss to the Russellville Cyclones. Like Coach Post, Woods has just three senior starters to go along with three starting juniors, four sophomores, and a freshman, with two more seniors coming off the bench.

The Bulldogs defeated a tough Pulaski Robinson team on February 22nd in what Coach Woods called “a very physical game.” Greenwood came away with a 2-1 victory on goals by junior Steven Duran and freshman David Coggin. As for the cold playing conditions, Coach Woods exaggerated somewhat, saying, “It felt like 15 degrees.”

On March 1st the GHS boys hit the road for their official season opener at Dardanelle, where Coach Woods attended school as a youngster. Greenwood won the contest, 2-1, on goals by senior Ivan Morales and sophomore Tucker Wooten.

“[It was] a little nostalgic going back to my alma mater in Dardanelle today,” wrote Woods on the team’s Facebook page. “[It] brought back some fond memories. The boys won a hard fought one from a scrappy Sand Lizard team. [But] the JV [team] took one on the chin, losing 3-1, with a goal by [sophomore] Alex Pittman. Lots of learning for the young guys. I’m proud of all of them”

Forty-eight hours later the Bulldogs hosted the Farmington Cardinals at Smith-Robinson Stadium and battled to a 2-2 tie. As against Pulaski Robinson, Greenwood got goals from Steven Duran and David Coggin. Coach Woods was pleased to be able to play his entire roster against the Cardinals.

The GHS boys then co-hosted the girls and boys tournament on March 4-5, playing Prairie Grove on Friday night, followed by Poteau (OK) and Fort Smith Southside on Saturday. “We struggled in our tournament,” observed Woods. “It could have been dead legs after playing five games that week.”

In game one on Friday night the Bulldogs fell to Prairie Grove in a narrow loss, 2-1, and Greenwood’s only goal of the weekend came in that match. They were then shutout twice on Saturday, 4-0 by Poteau and 3-0 by Southside.

Last Tuesday, March 8th, Coach Woods and his Bulldogs hosted Subiaco Academy at Smith-Robinson Stadium, battling to a 1-1 tie. Greenwood’s only goal was scored by junior Ralph Meeker, who is expected to be an offensive force for the Bulldogs this season, according to his coach.

“Ralph is probably the fastest kid on our team,” said Woods last month. “He’s going to be the best scorer we have. He has two dominant feet, and he’s going to play forward. We need him to be our leading scorer, and if he is, we will do well. He’s got to take the responsibility of putting the ball in the net. He’s got to turn that [aggressive] motor on all the time.”

Unfortunately, neither Meeker nor any of his teammates had an answer for perennial soccer power Russellville last Thursday. Despite playing on their home turf, the Bulldogs were thrashed by the Cyclones, 5-0, in their conference opener. And the competition just keeps getting better with the ‘Dogs slated to host the defending state champion Van Buren Pointers on Tuesday this week, also a 5A West conference match.

Coach Woods talked about what he’s seen from his team so far and what he hopes for the future. “We’ve gotten a lot of experience for some new guys to start the season. We’re still shuffling the lineup around trying to find out who’s going to solidify some spots. [Sophomore] Peyton Presson has been a good addition. It's his first year playing [soccer] and he has learned fast. He might even see a starting role soon.

“Alex Pittman, Hudson Meeker, and Pablo Ambriz are three others fighting for playing time. It's conference time, so we've got to start defending much better than we have. We hope to beat the teams that we can.”

During the pre-season, Coach Woods offered this take on the 2022 Bulldogs. “I’m a little concerned about our outside backs on defense. Our non-conference season is not very long, so those guys are going to have to grow up fast. We’re also paper thin and won’t be able to survive many injuries or ailments, [and] we’re still young. Our style of play will be different because we’ll be able to possess the ball more this year. [But] the most important thing is defense, and all 11 players have to defend. We’ve got the ability to compete, and our goal is [still] to make the playoffs.”