Fayetteville gets avenges defeat against Rogers

Friday's soccer match proved to be sweet revenge for Fayetteville's Lady Bulldogs. Nearly a month after losing to Rogers High on their home field, the Lady Bulldogs returned the favor, taking a 6-3 win in 7A-West Conference play at Whitey Smith Stadium. "I think losing the first game to them (was motivation)," Fayetteville coach Joe Thoma said. "Our girls were really focused. When we're focused, we're a really good team." Especially in the first half Friday night, as Fayetteville (11-6, 6-3 7A West) scored three goals in the first nine minutes. Georgia Templeton started the onslaught a mere nine seconds into the match when she corralled the opening kickoff, beat the Rogers defense down the left sideline and ricocheted an attempted pass off the Rogers keeper for the 1-0 lead. It's a lead that would expand to 3-0 on a Kamilla Sarvestani score with 31 minutes 44 seconds remaining in the first half. "They were sitting there scratching their heads, and I was like 'keep it up,'" Thoma said. "Their keeper made a save. Their (defenders) made two saves off the goal line in the first half, or it would have been 5-0 in the first half, then who know what happens." Rogers (12-4, 7-2) fought back behind the play of Skylurr Patrick, who scored two goals, including one on a free kick that she drilled into the top right corner of the goal from 25 yards out. The two scores give the Purdue-signee 26 goals on the season, and her assist to Jourdan Badely in the 54th minute tied the match at 3-3. "She was a handful and tough to deal with," said Rogers coach Aaron Crouch. "Typically, she's always on and ready to go. We just need to make sure we created enough opportunities tonight to get the win, and we didn't. " Fayetteville responded with another scoring run, this one ending with three scores in a 12 minute span in the second half. Myra Tubb , Sarvestini, and Morganne Browning each scored for the Lady Dogs during the run. "We got beat by a better team tonight, straight up," Crouch said. "They outplayed us and they outworked us as a team. We just got beat by a better team tonight." With the loss, Rogers remains firmly entrenched in second place in the 7A West Conference. The Lady Mounties will host conference-leading Bentonville next Friday, with a chance to share first-place with a victory.

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FAYETTEVILLE GETS AVENGES DEFEAT AGAINST ROGERS

JOSH TINKER

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 4/23/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlie Kaijo