Sometimes the soccer ball can bounce in weird ways.
That's what happened to Siloam Springs in a 3-1 loss to Rogers at Panther Stadium on March 5, Coach Abby Jones said.
Rogers got two first-half goals from Kayla Eggers and another in the 63rd minute from Taylor Chrisman when Siloam Springs was forced to battle on a player down after a red card in the 55th minute.
Siloam Springs led 1-0 in the 19th minute on a goal by Mesa Broquard. Broquard had to move to goal keeper after Norah Perkins was red carded for a tackle outside of the box in the second half.
Siloam Springs had a chance to tie the match in the final minute of the first half, but Jetta Broquard's 25-yard free kick struck a Rogers player and deflected onto the post.
Down 2-1 starting the second half, Siloam Springs was able mount sustained offensive pressure, but could not push a goal across. After the red card, Siloam Springs' best chance to score came on an effort by Vanessa Frias in the 58th minute.
"I felt like we were connecting better than we have all season," Jones said. "One of our goals was to just connect more passes and they did a really good job of that."
Jones also felt coming off of three games at the Bentonville Tournament the previous weekend had an impact on her team.
"I think the miles we did in the weekend at the tournament just came into play," Jones said. "You could see the weekend wearing on us. I was really happy with the moments you could see -- we came out strong and played feet when we were possessing well. I was really happy with all that, but I just think that the weekend wore on us a little bit."
Eggers was an offensive threat most of the night for Rogers. On her first goal she was able to thread though the Siloam Springs backline to make it 1-1 in the 26th minute. Eggers struck six minutes later. Moving along the right side Eggers hit a shot the banged the left post, rolled across the goal mouth onto the right post and in to make it 2-1.
Rogers' third goal came on a free kick by Chrisman that Mesa Broquard was able to get her gloves on only to see the ball get away and into the goal.
"Soccer is unfair in that the best team doesn't always win, and tonight I don't think the best team won," Jones said. "I think the ball kind of bounced their way a few times. The red card was unfortunate, but it really helped them out. "
Siloam Springs played a gauntlet of bigger schools to prep for the 5A-West Conference season. The Lady Panthers tied Bentonville West and lost to Westmoore and Jenks, two Oklahoma schools, before playing Rogers. Siloam Springs also played Bentonville in a benefit match.
That competition proved to be good seasoning as Siloam Springs won its conference opener at Mountain Home 1-0 on March 7.
Siloam Springs out shot Mountain Home 36-3. Defender Claire Jagger scored on a corner kick by Jetta Broquard with five minutes remaining in the first half. Mountain home was undefeated going into the match.
"It's very frustrating to feel like you've outplayed your opponent and only score once," Jones said. "A win is a win, but for the team this one felt like a loss. We have high expectations for the season and demand more of ourselves. Some seasons it can simply be hard to get going, but the goals will come and when they do we will be hard to stop."
Boys
Green Forest 2, Siloam Springs 1
Green Forest scored two bookend first-half goals to send the Panthers to their first loss of the season in match played March 5 at Panther Stadium.
Green Forest, the defending Class 3A state champion, scored just 1:40 into the match on a goal by Chris Alvarado and tallied again five minutes before the break on a goal by Catalino Saucedo.
Siloam Springs' lone goal came on a 29-yard free kick by Lee Hernandez in the 27th minute.
Siloam Springs had to play a man down after a red card in the 56th minute, but the Panthers had good scoring chances in the 67th and 68th minutes.
"We didn't finish real well," Siloam Springs Coach Craig Moses said. "We had some chances, but could not finish them. Our touch was a little off. You can't make any excuses. It was a hard-fought game."
The Panthers came into the match after winning 3-2 at Clarksville on March 4. Anthony Sandoval scored two goals and Ramon Loyo scored the other.
Siloam Springs opened the 5A-West Conference season with a 3-0 win at Mountain Home on March 7.
Bennett Naustvik had a hat trick and Ben Stratman added two assists.