Strong 2nd Half leads FHS past Heritage

ROGERS -- The first half at Gates Stadium was a even, back and forth soccer match as both Fayetteville and Rogers Heritage traded good minutes and strong looks at scoring opportunities. Once the second half started, the Lady Bulldogs turned things up a notch. Fayetteville wasted no time taking control after intermission, scoring two quick goals in the first two minutes of the second half and another goal just six minutes later. Almost instantly, a close match turned into a casual contest for the Lady'Dogs, as four total goals in a 30-minute second half span led the way to a 5-1 win over the Lady War Eagles on Thursday in 7A-West Conference girls' soccer action. "It's not that we played all that bad in the first half. We played OK and Heritage did a good job and I thought they were unfortunate not to have a penalty kick," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "So Heritage deserved everything in the first half and our girls saw that. "In the second half, we played better and when we play the way we're capable we're pretty fun to watch." Cassidy Sykes scored on a long range attempt from 25 yards out to put Fayetteville (13-3-1, 11-1) ahead with 24 minutes, 58 seconds left in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs missed on some other looks around the net over the next 10 minutes, allowing Heritage (10-7, 6-6) to even the match on a Macie Bowman goal off a corner kick with 8:38 left before half. The teams settled for the tie entering intermission, but Fayetteville certainly didn't settle for its first-half performance the rest of the way. "They crash backside the last couple of years they beat us and we know what (Fayetteville) is going to do. We just didn't do anything to adjust to it time," Lady War Eagles coach Craig Frank said. "It's demoralized when you give up two goals in two minutes. "We've done that to teams before as well, and we had or chances tonight also. We just came up on the wrong side of it and weren't able to pull the trigger when we had our opportunities." Hannah Davis scored at the 38:49 mark of the second half, heading in a rebound off a corner kick to give Fayetteville a 2-1 lead. Just 27 seconds later, Sykes would break lose and score on an open look for a 3-1 Lady'Dogs lead at the 38:22 mark. Berklie Young score for a 4-1 Fayetteville lead with 30:21 remaining and Ashton Rogers would add the final score for the Lady Bulldogs with 10:18 to play. "We've seen all the top teams out there," Thoma said. "We know we can play with Bryant and Bentonville and we know there's five or six teams out that can play with these teams up here in the West, and we want to be in that." Rogers Heritage plays in the Camdenton (Mo.) Tournament this weekend. Fayetteville hosts Rogers High for Senior Night on Tuesday. Sports on 04/29/2016

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STRONG 2ND HALF LEADS FHS PAST HERITAGE

VERNON TARVER

NWADG | 4/29/2016

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville Athletics