GHS soccer teams make the turn in conference play

GHS soccer teams make the turn in conference play

The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs soccer teams have both passed the halfway mark in 5A West conference play with last Thursday’s road trip to Russellville. The visit to Pope County was Greenwood’s second meeting with Russellville this season as the conference schedule turned over with half-a-dozen matches remaining in league play before the start of the postseason. And with time running out, both GHS teams have work to do to quality for the playoffs.

Bulldogs

Head Coach Tyler Woods has a lot on his plate this season with his team still hoping to make the postseason. The Bulldogs (3-7-4, 2-4-2) are currently tied for fifth place with Mountain Home one game behind fourth place Greenbrier. The top four finishers in the league standings earn a playoff berth. In addition to coaching his varsity squad, Woods also fields a junior varsity team, and this year has stated a youth team. The goal is to develop the knowledge and skills that will prepare those players for varsity action down the road.

On March 14th the GHS junior varsity squad played two opponents, Gentry and Alma, winning both 40-minute halves against each school. Greenwood won each abbreviated match by identical 1-0 scores, getting goals from Brandon Coston and Jameson Stewart.

Then on March 31st Woods coached his first youth contest of the season against Alma. “These boys played awesome soccer,” said the coach. “They moved the ball well and scored two goals. I can’t wait to see [them] progress [in the future]. The best thing we can do right now to help our high school program is to start these kids as young as we can.” The U-14 Bulldogs consist of players ages 12-14. There is currently no junior high soccer program sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association.

The week before spring break the GHS varsity boys played both Van Buren and Vilonia, teams at opposite ends of the league standings. The Pointers are currently tied for first place with Russellville and are the defending 5A state champions. They returned most of their best players this season and handed Greenwood a lopsided 6-0 loss. Vilonia is presently in seventh place and fell to Greenwood, 2-1, the Bulldogs’ first conference win of the season.

I was actually sick that day and wasn’t even at the game,” said Woods of the Bulldogs’ home loss to Van Buren. “They are the reigning champs from last year and returned a bunch of their starters. But that was a scrappy come-from-behind win [at] Vilonia. I was proud of [our] guys and their perseverance throughout that game. I saw a lot of growth.” Greenwood had goals by Ralph Meeker and Tucker Wooten.

Fresh off spring break, the GHS varsity boys continued to play well against one of the league’s and state’s top programs in Siloam Springs, winners of numerous state titles. On March 29th the Bulldogs hosted the Panthers and battled them to a surprising 1-1 draw, winning a critical point in the standings for Greenwood. “[Goalkeeper] Brandon Coston came up with so many saves we lost count,” said Woods. “I was proud of all these boys.” Ivan Morales scored Greenwood’s lone goal.

Asked to clarify the point system used in high school soccer, the coach obliged. “The [number of] games back really doesn’t mean anything,” he explained. “In soccer you get three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss. You have to do the math on your own.”

So while both Mountain Home and Greenwood have identical 2-4-2 conference records and appear to be one game behind Greenbrier for fourth place in the standings, they are actually four points behind the Panthers for that coveted final playoff slot. Greenwood will host Greenbrier in their regular season finale, perhaps with a playoff berth on the line.

On April 1st the Bulldogs had to rally in the second half to pull out another tie, this one on the road at Mountain Home. “We went down 2-0 at half, but [our] guys battled back to a 2-2 tie,” said the coach, again acknowledging the importance of that one point. The two GHS goals were by Ivan Morales and Hudson Meeker, with some phenomenal defensive saves by Brandon Coston on the other end, according to Woods.

Four days later, on April 5th, the Bulldogs won 4-0 over the Alma Airdales. “This was our first clean sheet (shutout) of the year and a big win for our guys,” said the coach. “We had goals by Ralph Meeker, Ivan Morales, Steven Duran, and Ben Moy.” A senior defender, it was Moy’s first-ever goal in high school, according to Woods.

“Alma’s head coach, Cory Sturdivant, is a really good friend of mine,” said Woods. “We played those guys in summer league and they have improved. They are a fairly new program and Cory is a really good coach who is putting down roots for soccer in Alma. He’s started a youth program and every year Alma gets better and better.”

But Greenwood’s modest four-game unbeaten streak ended the following week on April 8th at Greenbrier in a 2-1 loss to the Panthers, the team currently just ahead of the Bulldogs in the conference standings. “We lost a heartbreaker at Greenbrier,” said the coach, who also indicated there were some issues with the scoreboard clock in the second half, stretching out the match to allow the Panthers time to score the winning goal.

“We noticed during the last few minutes of that game that Greenbrier was gaining momentum and our legs were dead, and their clock person started stopping the clock when the ball’s going out-of-bounds. I guess they were trying to preserve time for their guys. Usually, 15 or 20 seconds wouldn’t matter that much, but we got scored on with three seconds left, so I was pretty livid. But there was really nothing that could be done.”

Adding insult to injury, last Thursday the Bulldogs were no match for first place Russellville, another perennial soccer power. The Cyclones hosted Greenwood and won easily, 6-0, after beating the ‘Dogs 5-0 earlier this season at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The loss left the GHS boys in a fifth-place tie with Mountain Home, four points behind Greenbrier with six matches remaining.

Four of those games – Vilonia, Mountain Home, Alma, and Greenbrier – are winnable, and the other two are against Van Buren and Siloam Springs. An upset win or at least a tie in either of those two matches would certainly boost the Bulldogs’ chances of making the postseason dance. The next three weeks will be decisive in determining their fate.

“Do we still have a chance to make it? Of course, we do,” said Woods. “Let’s just win every game. That’s not exactly what we have to do, but that must be our mindset. Let’s just focus on one game at a time. Anything can happen. We’re behind Greenbrier right now, but they could slip up. We just need to keep trying and never give up, so that’s what we’ll do.”

Lady Bulldogs

The GHS varsity girls are 2-7-4 overall this season and 1-5-2 in 5A West conference play, recently falling to sixth place in the league standings behind Siloam Springs, Greenbrier, Russellville, Van Buren, and Alma. The Lady Bulldogs are six games out of first place and their only realistic chance of making the postseason is to surpass Alma and Van Buren to finish fourth in the conference standings. They are currently five points behind the Lady Pointers and two points behind Alma with six regular season matches remaining on their schedule.

Lady Bulldogs’ Head Coach Andrew Post recently offered his thoughts about their 2022 campaign so far, saying, “We’ve had some injury and personnel issues. We’ve lost both starting outside defensive backs for the season due to injury, and lost two more starters on offense for [other] reasons. [But] these girls have started to build a chemistry with each other in spite of losing the experience of those [injured/missing] players.”

According to Post, his team has shown signs of marked improvement recently as new and younger players become acclimated to the varsity level of play and have become more comfortable with their teammates. But the Lady Bulldogs did have their issues early in the season.

“The Van Buren and Vilonia games were an example of those early struggles adjusting to new personnel on the field,” said the coach. “We lost to Van Buren, 5-1, with our only goal by sophomore Abbey Gatesman,” he added. That match was played at Smith-Robinson Stadium on March 15th, the Tuesday before spring break. Two days later the GHS girls traveled to Vilonia with the game ending in a 0-0 tie, even though the Lady Eagles remain winless in league play.

But coming back from spring break, the Lady Bulldogs turned in a great first half at home against the first place Lady Panthers of Siloam Springs on March 29th. Greenwood led the match 1-0 at the half before giving up four unanswered goals in the second half. Junior Madelyn Wilkinson scored the lone goal for the Lady Bulldogs.

“That game represented a real change in how we have played this season,” said Coach Post. “Leading Siloam Springs at the half and keeping them scoreless for [40 minutes] was a real accomplishment for these ladies. It’s something that one of my teams hasn't done in years.” Siloam Springs is known statewide as a traditional soccer power.

On April Fool’s Day the GHS girls battled Mountain Home on the road to a 2-2 tie. “We played well enough to win, but couldn't hold on to the lead in the second half,” said Post. The Lady Bulldogs had goals by freshman Payton Scantling and Abbey Gatesman. The score was knotted at 1-1 at the intermission before Greenwood took a short-lived 2-1 lead in the second half.

On Tuesday, April 5th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Alma varsity girls and won 2-0 at Smith-Robinson Stadium. “The ladies played excellently,” said their coach. “They executed our game plan perfectly and controlled most of the [match]. We had goals by junior Ava Thomas and freshman Ava Whitaker. It was a big win for the Lady Bulldogs in a hard-fought conference battle.”

But last Thursday the Greenwood girls traveled to Central Arkansas and lost to second place Greenbrier, 3-0, unable to break through the Lady Panthers’ defense and score a goal. “This one felt much closer than it was,” said Post. “The girls shut them out the second half except for a phantom hand ball in the penalty area. Our keeper, senior Chaise Hanna, initially blocked the penalty kick, but Greenbrier was able to follow up the rebound with a goal.”

Last Thursday the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Russellville and took one on the chin at the hands of the Lady Cyclones, who won easily in an 8-0 shutout. But despite that most recent loss, Coach Post believes better things are ahead as the schedule moves into the second half of conference play.

“I’m seeing real improvement since the Siloam Springs game,” he said. “It almost looks like two different teams from the start of the season. I’m starting three freshmen, and all three are contributing to the progression of the team. I also have three starting sophomores who are contributing in their second year with the team. My upperclassmen are doing an excellent job of using their experience to help lead this team. We [hope] to play much better soccer in this second [half].”

Upcoming

Both GHS teams will be in action this week, hosting Van Buren at Smith-Robinson Stadium on Tuesday then traveling to Vilonia on Friday afternoon. The girls are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. both days followed by the boys at 7 p.m. Greenwood will travel to Siloam Springs next Tuesday before hosting Mountain Home on April 29th. They will close out their regular season and conference schedules at Alma on May 3rd and at home against Greenbrier on May 6th.


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