Clarksville's defense controlled Hot Springs' Erick Guadron but couldn't contain Josue Hernandez, whose two goals helped the Trojans win 4-0 in the Class 5A soccer quarterfinals Friday in Nettleton.
Though subsiding before halftime, rain bothered both teams, said Hot Springs coach Cory Sturdivant. "We definitely were not burning alive today," he said.
Hernandez scored an open goal in the seventh minute after the Clarksville keeper stopped Guadron, leading scorer for the defending 5A champion Trojans. It stayed 1-0 until sophomore Hernandez scored on Josue Ayala's through ball in the 44th minute.
"I think it probably had more to do with the weather," Sturdivant said of the lack of first-half scoring. "When it started picking up going into halftime, the field and ball were getting really slick. The ball would hit and kind of slide a little bit and take an awkward bounce, even on turf. People would try to go pressure the ball, and then they'd slip down. It was raining pretty good there for a little while."
Senior Guadron's 49th goal came in the 49th minute, Johnny Gonzales-Vazquez connecting in the 76th to set the final margin.
With four saves, Trojan keeper Manny Santillan solidified the defensive effort. "The defense played well," Sturdivant said, Clarksville with only two shots on goal.
Hot Springs plays Little Rock Christian at noon today, the winner advancing to Fayetteville for the state final next weekend.
"They beat Maumelle 1-0 in two overtimes," Sturdivant said of the Warriors. "We know that they've got a lot of kids who play club in the fall. They're very well-coached. Barry McCaskill is a good coach, and we know that his kids will be ready. They used to be in our conference when I first came here, and it's always been a tough game."
As for the Trojans, "I think we'll take the same gameplan," he said. "We knew in today's game they were going to key on Erick, and we needed Josue to have a big game, and he did. It's good that our two scorers can rely on each other, and our defense has really been working hard. We know that they're always going to be well-versed in their set pieces. We're going to approach it like the last two."
Sports on 05/13/2017