The high school soccer season is now a few weeks old, and both Greenwood High School squads are doing well in the early going with spring break beginning this weekend. Both squads have posted winning records so far, but still have their work cut out for them in the ultra-tough 5A West conference. Both GHS head coaches offered updates on their respective squads in the days leading up to spring break.

Lady Bulldogs

Head Coach Andrew Post likes what he’s seen so far this season. “Overall, we are much improved from last year's squad,” said the coach. We have the toughest 5A conference in the state, so it will be a battle each week, but these girls have shown so much improvement from last year. I feel we will continue to get better and really challenge for a playoff spot.” 

The GHS girls unofficially opened their season with a home scrimmage against Sallisaw (OK) at Smith-Robinson Stadium on February 20th, a 3-2 win for the Lady Bulldogs. In that pre-season match Greenwood scored a pair of first half goals to lead 2-0 at the half. [Sophomore] Hailey Mabry and [freshman] Mariah Bartok netted those goals and Bartok scored again in the second half for the win.

The “official” season opener happened a week later on February 27th, again on the artificial turf at Smith-Robinson Stadium, this time against Dardanelle. Greenwood fell behind 2-1 in the first half, but roared back with three second half goals to win 4-2. Ava Thomas netted two goals while fellow senior Abby Gatesman and [sophomore] Ally Thomas had the other two. As more evidence that the Lady Bulldogs have improved this season, the Lady Sand Lizards beat Greenwood in 2022 in a match at Dardanelle.

Two days later, on the opening day of March, the Lady Bulldogs hit the road for the first time, traveling north to Farmington, earning a dominate 5-0 victory. The visitors led 2-0 at the half, with three second half goals. Mariah Bartok and Ava Thomas had two goals each and Ally Thomas netted a solo kick.

The following Friday, the GHS girls hosted the Lady Pointers of Van Buren, earning another shutout win, 3-0. Van Buren is a member of the 5A West, but the match was scheduled as a non-conference game and did not count in the league standings. Freshman Farrah Crossno, Abby Gatesman, and Ava Thomas scored one goal each with Greenwood, which led 2-0 at the half with the defense preserving the shutout over the final 40 minutes.

Up next for the Lady Bulldogs was their conference opener at home against the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, a city and school known for one of the best prep soccer programs in the state. But the GHS ladies gave the visitors all they wanted in the first half, keeping the game scoreless through the intermission. But the Lady Cyclones finally scored a pair of second half goals for the 2-0 win.

Last Tuesday the Greenwood girls traveled to Crawford County to face the Van Buren Lady Pointers for the second time in two weeks, but this time the match counted in the 5A West team standings. Ironically, the Lady Bulldogs notched an identical 3-0 victory to even their early league mark at 1-1. Scoring for Greenwood were Farrah Crossno (2) and Mariah Bartok. Greenwood’s home match against Harrison last Thursday was postponed due to rain, to be made up on April 11th.

“We have 18 goals through six games, which is a great average,” acknowledged Coach Post. “We took our first loss [against] Russellville, but the girls fought hard. The halftime score was 0-0, which shows how tough our girls played them. Last year we lost to Russellville by a combined score of 13-0 in two matches. The improvement on defense is evident, and we had two or three really good chances to score against them [last week].

“Abby Gatesman, Ally Thomas, Ava Thomas, [senior] Madelyn Wilkinson, and [junior] Gracyn Newcity have all stepped up this season and improved from last year. Newcomers Skyler Frey, Mariah Bartok, and Farah Crossno are contributing to the team as freshmen, which is a huge bonus. [Junior] Lindah Bartok is doing well as our starting keeper and improving each game,” added the coach.

Bulldogs

Head Coach Tyler Woods gave his players the entire week off for spring break, hoping that time away from the grind of practice and competition will help them recharge after a pair of tough losses to open 5A West conference play. The Bulldogs opened league play against perhaps the top two teams in the conference, Russellville and Van Buren, and had a third 5A West match against Harrison postponed due to rain. But prior to the start of conference play the GHS boys were riding a four-game winning streak and are currently 4-3 overall this season.

On March 20th the Bulldogs hosted Sallisaw (OK) in a benefit match at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The GHS boys won that contest handily, 6-2, after leading 5-1 at the half. Senior Ben Pschier scored three goals for a rare hat trick. Seniors Ralph Meeker, Steven Duran, and freshman Christian Campbell also scored solo goals.

“Our guys played really well, and everybody got to play,” said Coach Woods. “It was a good tune-up. [Sallisaw] had some good quality players. We’ve got some quality players ourselves, and we were excited to see what we could do against another team. It was a lot of fun to play and see some of our guys show out. It was a good start for us.”

Unfortunately, that momentum didn’t carry over into the official season opener at home against Dardanelle a week later in a 4-1 loss to the Sand Lizards. Senior Steven Duran scored the only goal for Greenwood early in the match and the ‘Dogs led 1-0, but were shut out the rest of the way. It was a match the GHS boys wished they could play again, said their head coach.

“Actually, the score didn’t really reflect how the game went,” explained Woods. “It was a lot closer than 4-1. We just made some defensive mistakes, and we were moving some guys around and trying some different things. But it really helped us figure out some things.” Sometimes a tough loss can be good for a team still trying to find its way.

Two days later the Bulldogs traveled to Farmington, the defending Class 4A state champions, and earned a narrow 2-1 victory. “They had a lot of [players] returning,” said Coach Woods of the Cardinals, “and we had a lot of stuff to fix after the Dardanelle game. But we ended up beating them in a really tough, physical game. We did a lot more things right against Farmington than we did against Dardanelle.

At the half the teams were knotted at 1-1. Greenwood’s goals were scored by junior Christian Wheeler and senior Ralph Meeker. Wheeler came off the bench and “was in the right place at the right time,” said Woods of his first half scorer that tied the match at 1-1. Meeker’s second half goal held up as the winner behind some strong GHS defense.

Up next for Greenwood was a four-team round-robin tournament on Saturday, March 4th, at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The visiting teams included Gentry, Cossatot River, and Prairie Grove, with each of the four teams playing the other three in 50-minute abbreviated matches. It was a long, exhausting day for the participants, but the Bulldogs made the most of the opportunity, winning all three of their matches.

Asked about the event format, Woods said, “We played 25-minute halves, when normally we play 40-minute halves.” Greenwood defeated Gentry, 2-1, downed Cossatot River, 1-0, and blitzed Prairie Grove, 6-0, to win the tournament, boosting their early season mark to 4-1. Three days later they traveled to Northwest Arkansas to take on Haas Hall Academy, playing at a public course in Rogers, earning a 2-2 tie in the non-conference affair.

Greenwood led 2-0 at the half against Gentry, but allowed a single goal in the shortened second half to account for the 2-1 final. “We kind of dominated in the first half, but gave up a goal real late,” said Woods. Seniors Ralph Meeker and Ben Pschier scored solo goals in the Saturday morning match to kick off the competition at Smith-Robinson Stadium, the much-celebrated home of the Bulldogs.

Match #2 against the Cossatot River Eagles also went to the home team, 1-0, but it was no easy feat. “We had so many chances to score, we just couldn’t put one in the net,” said Coach Woods. “We basically controlled possession the entire game. It was a credit to Cossatot River, a pretty solid team, but we ended up going to penalty kicks [to win]. [Junior goalkeeper] Brandon Coston blocked the first two [Eagles’] kicks for us, and Ralph Meeker, Steven Duran, and [junior] Tucker Wooten put their penalty kicks in, and it was over.” The Eagles made just one of their PKs.

“Due to point differentials, you get a 1-0 [victory] any time you win in PKs,” explained the Greenwood coach, adding that the only time PKs are allowed now is in tournament play or in the state playoffs when teams remain tied after overtime. Each team then gets five penalty kicks to determine the winner.

Their final tournament match that day was against the Prairie Grove Tigers, a team with fewer reserves than the Bulldogs, and it showed in the results. “It was hot, and they didn’t have a lot of depth. I think they were worn out. That’s what their coach told me. I think they only had three subs,” said Coach Woods. “We had our entire bench full of junior varsity guys ready to sub.” Greenwood had four different players score goals in the dominate 6-0 victory.

Steven Duran and Ben Pschier scored twice each, then one goal each from junior Bodey Steinfeldt and freshman Sean Jackson. The Bulldogs led 4-0 at the intermission, with all four goals scored by Duran and Pschier. Greenwood’s junior varsity team played the final 25 minutes and accounted for the two additional goals.

The following Tuesday, March 7th, the Bulldogs traveled to Forrester Park in Rogers to take on the Mastiffs of Haas Hall Academy, a charter school with multiple locations in Northwest Arkansas. As a result, Haas Hall doesn’t have its own soccer facilities and must use public fields for their matches. According to Woods, the grass turf was bumpy and hilly.

“We hadn’t even practiced on grass all year. [The field] didn’t have benches or anything,” said the coach. “It was kind of rough. We couldn’t pass back and forth because the ball just bounced so hard. It just turned into a big kickball game.” Greenwood also played without junior starter Tucker Wooten, who suffered an allergic reaction before the match and had to go to the hospital. “It was just a crazy day,” said the coach.

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs scored first on an early goal by Ben Pschier, only to have the Mastiffs tie the score at 1-1 before the break. Haas Hall scored another goal in the second half to take the lead, 2-1, until about two minutes remained and Greenwood was awarded a penalty kick, cashed in by Steven Duran to tie the game at 2-2, which was the final score.

Up next for Greenwood was the conference opener at home against the formidable Russellville Cyclones, the defending 5A champions with multiple state titles to their name. “I think Russellville is probably the best team in the state or probably in the top three,” said Woods. Playing such a high-caliber team in the league opener caused the coach and his players to temper their expectations somewhat. While a victory over the Cyclones was unlikely, a tie would have also been a victory of sorts for the Bulldogs. But Russellville led 3-0 at the half and won the match, 4-0.

“In our conference, we get three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss,” explained Woods, whose pre-season goal was to earn the fourth seed in the 5A West and an automatic berth in the state playoffs. “We know how good [Russellville is], and our kids understand. We’re not technically as good as [them], but we can sometimes at least try to get a tie out of those games. They are a really good program and they’ve got some weapons. When they sub, they’re subbing some high quality talent, and we’re subbing younger guys that don’t have as much experience. But we played pretty well for the first 25 minutes, and I was proud of the fight of our guys, and it’s good for them to see the best in the state.”

Last Tuesday the GHS boys traveled to Van Buren for another conference match, falling 4-2 in a heartbreaker, according to Coach Woods. Van Buren lost 13 seniors off last year’s team that reached the state finals, but remains a force to be reckoned with in Class 5A and the 5A West. The Pointers scored early, around the 10-minute mark, and led 2-1 at the half after Ralph Meeker scored Greenwood’s first point.

In the second half, Bulldogs’ sophomore David Coggins scored on a corner kick to knot the score at 2-2, and it remained so until about 11 minutes left in the match when Van Buren scored on a free kick, making it 3-2. Strategically, Greenwood took some chances in the final minutes, hoping to tie the game, but the Pointers found a weakness and netted another goal, making the final score 4-2.

“It kind of stunk,” said Woods of the Van Buren loss. “It’s tough when you start looking at other scores around the conference and who your competition is for that fourth [playoff] spot. But it’s still early in our conference and we control our own fate. We can win and get three points in those crucial games against Mountain Home, Greenbrier, Alma, Harrison, and even Siloam Springs possibly. If we can do that, we put ourselves in a really good position.

“We’ve played the two best teams in our conference, Russellville and Van Buren,” Woods continued. “So right now it’s really hard to tell exactly where the chips are going to fall. But over the next five games against Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, Alma, Greenbrier, and Harrison – after that I’ll have a better idea. We’ve got to get three points in a few of those games, and it’s going to be tough, because this year there’s a lot of parity. Russellville is untouchable, but everybody else is fresh game. Everybody else is mortal. We have to come back [from spring break] and go to Siloam Springs and get a win. That would kick start us in the right direction, then we host Mountain Home the following Friday. Those are two huge games for us,” said Woods. “Once we get back, we’ll hit it hard.”