BENTONVILLE KNOCKS OFF FAYETTEVILLE

The first 15 minutes of her team's game against Fayetteville had Bentonville High girls soccer coach Kris Henry a little bit worried. The Tigers found themselves down a goal after just two minutes had passed, and the Bulldogs had her team rattled, she said. Bentonville failed to convert on any of its scoring opportunities in the first half as the Tigers began to complicate what made their offense so effective the whole season. Henry thought the team was making unnecessary long, difficult passes and was holding onto the ball too long. That all changed for the Tigers once the second half started as the team went on to score three goals to beat Fayetteville, 3-1, on Tuesday night. "The first half, we were here. We showed up," Henry said. "The second half, we came to play." Bentonville began to play with more intensity and focus than it had shown in the first half. The team was able to break down Fayetteville's defense and start getting the ball to its forwards in the middle, which opened up scoring chances. "That was the difference in the game," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "They executed in those really tight spaces. We had a couple of chances where if we make the right pass, we get a shot off and get a chance to score. They did it, and we didn't." The Tigers' took the lead after Tyler Ann Reash scored off an assist from Angelina Diaz with about 26 minutes left in the game. Diaz took the ball out of the back and dribbled it the length of the field before she found Reash cutting in from the right side. Reash's goal came about three minutes after Brianna Willis scored from about 20 yards out for Bentonville's first goal. Willis had open space along the right sideline, giving her time to set up the shot that found the top left corner of the net. "The second half, we played a little bit smarter and used the width -- I mean, it's a massive field --and found space," Henry said. Diaz added another goal to her team-leading total with about five minutes left in the game, effectively ending Fayetteville's chances to tie it up late. "I told our girls, 'You're going to have to bring it in the second half because Bentonville's coming after ya,' and they did," Thoma said. "We fought, and I told them they played good, but Bentonville played that much better to get the win." Henry thought her defense played better in the second half after allowing Fayetteville to control a lot of the possession through the first, she said. East redeemed herself after Fayetteville scored by making some crucial saves at the end of the game. "She responded well," Henry said. "That first save that she made was the job she was supposed to do. She did her job, and the defenders needed to step in and get that second ball. She responded well and that breakaway at the end was huge." Fayetteville had a chance to tie up the game after Bentonville went up by one but failed to capitalize on the breakaway because of East and Carrie Kotoucek. The duo kept Fayetteville's Abby Estes from scoring after Kotoucek was able to slow Estes down long enough for East to run up in the box and fall on the ball. The Bulldogs' Olivia Roark notched the team's only goal after she scored on a rebound that bounced off East's hands from an initial shot by Roark's teammate, Regan Resz.

BENTONVILLE KNOCKS OFF FAYETTEVILLE

Photo Credit: Fayetteville High School Athletics

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