Conway nips Bentonville on penalty kicks

FORT SMITH -- Conway Coach Matthew Page told his players prior to Thursday's first-round Class 7A boys state soccer tournament match that it would take each one for the Wampus Cats to advance. And it nearly happened. The Wampus Cats outlasted two-time defending-state champion Bentonville 8-7 in penalty kicks after regulation and overtime was tied 1-1. Conway's Leo Hernandez came through with the winning penalty kick for the Wampus Cats who advanced to face Springdale Har-Ber at 2 p.m. today at Mayo-Thompson Stadium. "That was crazy, man," Page said. "I've had one more crazy match like that, but that was the craziest. To go that deep into PKs is crazy. This went above and beyond." Lightning halted play for 1 1/2 hours less than 12 minutes into the match with Conway leading 1-0 behind Brooks Thomason's goal. Conway took that lead into halftime after the stoppage. Once the teams returned for the second half, lightning struck again, delaying the match another 48 minutes. The Wampus Cats (11-10-1) appeared in control throughout the second half, appearing on the verge of handing Bentonville (9-7-1) its fourth shutout loss in its last five matches. One final chaotic surge by the Tigers resulted in Harrison Dickerson's game-tying goal with 45 seconds left in regulation. Two scoreless 10-minute overtimes could not decide the winner, leading to the penalty-kick rounds. "We're a big PK team," Page said. "In the last two years, we're 10-2 in games decided by PKs. It seems to always end in a tie and we go to penalty kicks. I don't know [how we end up in PKs]. These guys can't tell you either. It's just one of those things. We practice them all the time just for this right here." Both sides found the net on their opening four penalty kicks. In the fifth round, Bentonville was stuffed, leaving Conway needing just one more goal, but the kick sailed well over the crossbar. The teams each scored on their following three kicks before the Tigers were turned away on their final two attempts before Hernandez scored the game-winner.

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CONWAY NIPS BENTONVILLE ON PENALTY KICKS

SCOTTIE BORDELON

Arkansas Online | 5/12/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Conway Athletics