BHS EDGES FAYETTEVILLE IN PENALTY KICKS

FAYETTEVILLE -- All Kristina Henry wanted during the penalty-kick session was one save from Gabby Miller. Bentonville's girls soccer coach didn't have to wait long for it Tuesday night. The senior goalkeeper wrapped her hands around Fayetteville's first try, and that led to the Lady Tigers' 4-2 decision in penalty kicks after the two teams played to a scoreless tie at Harmon Field "If Gabby can make a save, we have a chance," Henry said. "In my mind, that's always the hope -- that the goalkeeper makes one save and the shooters bury theirs." Anslea Haikey had already hit Bentonville's first penalty kick when Miller correctly chose to go to her left and denied Hannah Davis' kick. Melanie Matkins then went high into the left corner with her kick and gave the Lady Tigers (10-1, 7-0) a 2-0 edge. Fayetteville (8-3, 6-1) still had a chance to tie as Payton Woodward hit her kick, then Lady Purple'Dog goalkeeper Gracie Cape blocked Lauren Hargus' attempt. Mary Rose Warren's kick, however, hit the crossbar and bounced away, then Bentonville sealed the win when Merrill Leak and Alyssa Carlson connected on their kicks. "I was glad I was able to save the first one because that let off some anxiety," Miller said. "I was pumped up more, then she hit the post. That helped us out a lot. "I didn't know it was going to hit the pole. I just went up in case it didn't hit the pole. I thought I had my hands up there far enough that it would have been fine had it not hit the post. It was fortunate that it did." Both teams are capable of scoring plenty of goals, but it was the defensive units that controlled regulation play. Shots on goal were kept at a minimum, and both goalkeepers had easy save opportunities when they came. "There are a couple of things that will help us," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "That's the whole thing about midseason. It's not the end of the season, so we learn. "We've been practicing on our penalty kicks, but we didn't execute them like we wanted to. Aside from that, Bentonville did an excellent job of dictating the pace the whole second half." Rogers Heritage 2, Springdale Har-Ber 1 Bailee Russell snapped a 1-1 tie with just under 20 minutes left to give the Lady War Eagles a big 7A-West Conference win Tuesday night. Russell took a nice cross from Hannah Markel and tapped it in to give Heritage (8-4, 4-3 7A-West) the lead. Har-Ber (2-5 7A-West) took a 1-0 lead on an Elise Reina goal in the first half. But Heritage tied it 1-1 on a goal by Grace Brackett off an Emily Seiler corner kick.

BHS EDGES FAYETTEVILLE IN PENALTY KICKS

Photo Credit: NWADG

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