The two Greenwood High School soccer teams have reached the halfway point of their season and made the turn into the home stretch of the 5A West conference schedule. While both teams remain competitive at this point, it’s the Lady Bulldogs who are having the best season with a legitimate shot at qualifying for the state tournament. Five matches remain after this week.
Lady Bulldogs
“It has been a great season so far and we are in the driver's seat right now to make the playoffs,” said GHS girls’ Head Coach Andrew Post this past Tuesday. “This week will really determine if we are still in the driver's seat as we have a must win game tonight and must get at least a point from the Harrison game Thursday.” The Lady Bulldogs did exactly that, beating Van Buren, 2-1, on Tuesday before tying Harrison, 1-1, on Thursday. The GHS ladies are 9-4-3 overall and 5-3-3 in 5A West conference play. The following update provides the match scores and individual GHS scorers for each match.
After winning their first two matches of the season against Cassatot River, 7-0, and Mena, 5-2, the first week of March, the Lady Bulldogs hosted Huntsville on March 5th, winning 6-0. The GHS goals were scored by Farah Crossno (2), Chelsea Wells (2), Haley Curran, and Alainah Aldredge.
The following week the GHS ladies tied Shiloh Christian, 2-2, on March 9th with Farah Crossno and Hannah Simpson accounting for Greenwood’s two scores. The next day they traveled to Van Buren and won, 2-1, with both goals netted by Mariah Bartok. Two days later, on Thursday, March 12th, the GHS girls battled the Lady Goblins to a 0-0 tie.
The following Tuesday, the 17th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted longtime rival Alma and defeated the Lady Airedales, 2-0, with Farah Crossno and Hannah Simpson sharing the scoring honors. Still unbeaten, the Greenwood girls went to Farmington on the Thursday before spring break, March 19th, and returned home with a 4-3 victory. GHS goals were made by Farah Crossno (2), Hannah Simpson, and Chelsea Wells. The Lady Bulldogs entered spring break with a 6-0-2 overall mark, and 3-0-2 in league play.
Returning from the break, the GHS girls hosted conference foe Russellville, one of the best teams in the state. Unfortunately, things didn’t go Greenwood’s way, losing 6-0 to the Lady Cyclones. Two days later, on Thursday, April 2nd, the Lady Panthers of Siloam Springs hosted Greenwood and beat the Lady Bulldogs, 6-1, with Mariah Bartok scoring the only goal for the visitors.
The next week, on Tuesday the 7th, Greenwood visited non-conference foe Gravette, returning home with a 4-2 victory with goals by Hannah Simpson (2), Mariah Bartok, and Caroline Hardy. The following Friday Greenwood hosted Mountain Home and defeated the Lady Bombers, 1-0, the lone goal being scored by Caroline Hardy.
Last week the GHS girls lost 2-0 at Shiloh Christian on Monday before hosting and beating Van Buren on Tuesday, 2-1. On Thursday they tied Harrison at Smith-Robinson Stadium, 1-1, to remain in the thick of the conference race, currently in fifth place behind Siloam Springs, Russellville, Harrison, and Shiloh Christian. Mariah Bartok scored the lone goal against Harrison.
The Shiloh Lady Saints have seven matches remaining, four of those against teams ahead of them in the league standings. Greenwood has five matches left against Alma, Farmington, Siloam Springs, Russellville, and Mountain Home. Either Shiloh or Greenwood will likely earn the #4 playoff berth from the 5A West.
Bulldogs
The GHS boys are out of the conference race at 1-6-2 but are 4-6-3 overall. Head Coach Tyler Woods knew this season was going to be a challenge with only two seniors returning from last year’s squad. The junior class was strong but is supplemented by a group of inexperienced sophomores and a couple of promising freshmen. Points have been hard to come by at times. The following update gives the match scores for the season and the individual scoring and assist leaders for each match.
After tying Cassatot River in the season opener, 0-0, on March 2nd, Greenwood won its next two matches by identical 2-0 scores. Hosting Mena on March 3rd, Landon Franklin and Grant Fiala shared the scoring honors with Noah Boylston and Dex Coston each earning an assist. Two days later, also at Smith-Robinson Stadium, Grant Fiala and Bailey Thibodeau scored one goal each with Dex Coston and Brandon Jarrels getting the assists.
At Van Buren on March 10th the Bulldogs fell to the Pointers, 5-2, with both GHS goals scored by John Eckart with assists from Noah Boylston and Davin Cheek. At Harrison two days later, the Dogs lost 3-1 with the lone GHS goal being netted by Grant Fiala with an assist from Boylston.
The losing streak extended to three matches the next Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, falling at home to Alma, 2-1. Skye Johnson scored Greenwood’s only goal without the aid of an assist. At Farmington on the 19th the Bulldogs battled to a 2-2 tie with net shots by Noah Boylston and Landon Franklin with Boylston also getting credit for an assist.
Mired in what would be their season’s most crucial stretch of matches, the Bulldogs’ woes continued the next week at Russellville and Siloam Springs, both shutout losses, 5-0 and 2-0, respectively. At that point the GHS boys were 0-5-1 in league play and already out of the 5A West race, averaging less than two goals per match.
But things turned around in a big way, at least for one match, when Greenwood traveled to Gravette for a non-conference contest on April 7th, winning 5-0. Four GHS players accounted for all the scoring in the match, led by Landon Franklin’s two goals. Brandon Jarrels added a goal, as did Skye Johnson and Bailey Thibodeau, who also earned a pair of assists. The other assists went to Franklin, Johnson, and A.J. Saengsatheuane.
Greenwood followed up its Gravette victory with its first conference win over Mountain Home on Friday, April 10th, at Smith Robinson Stadium. The 3-2 score featured GHS goals by John Eckart, Landon Franklin, and Grant Fiala with Bailey Thibodeau earning two assists. Last week the Bulldogs lost at home on Tuesday to the Van Buren Pointers, 5-0, and tied Harrison, 1-1, also at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Coach Woods and his team have six matches remaining this season, including contests this week at Alma on Tuesday and at home against Farmington on Thursday, both league matches. They will also play at Subiaco Academy on the 27th before returning to 5A West action at home against Siloam Springs on the first Friday in May. They will conclude their 2026 campaign on the road at Russellville and Mountain Home the following week, hoping to end their season on a positive note, setting the stage for a more successful 2027 built around a strong returning senior class.