DEFENDING CHAMPS ROGERS ELIMINATED

Mount St. Mary, the No. 3 seed from the 6A-Central, scored in both halves and held on for a 2-1 victory over Rogers High in the Class 6A girls state soccer tournament at Hendrix College's Warrior Field. The Belles will face top-seeded Conway at 10 a.m. today on the Wampus Cats' home field at John McConnell Stadium. Mount St. Mary coach Stephanie Boccarossa thought her team played well against the defending state champions. "I've been telling the girls since Day One, even if you are playing a team better than you, you have to play with heart," Boccarossa said. For the most part, the ball stayed on the Belles' end of the field, particularly in the first half when Rogers was limited to one shot. Mount St. Mary didn't have many more shots but made the most of them when Natalie Snook scored on a breakaway with 28:16 remaining in the first half. The Belles are a senior-laden team, but don't expect the quality to go down next season when those seniors leave. "We had a pretty strong [junior varsity] team this year, in fact four or five of the girls who played in this game came up from the JV this season," Boccarossa said. Mount St. Mary didn't wait too long before scoring in the second half, taking a 2-0 lead with 32:13 remaining in the game. Senior Kaitlin Tarini scored on a free kick when Rogers keeper Mac Silva couldn't handle the long shot, with the ball bouncing off her hands and into the back of the net. Rogers narrowed the edge to 2-1 four minutes later when junior Haley Arrick scored. With 12:50 remaining, Rogers tried to take advantage of a corner kick, but Mount St. Mary keeper Kaydee Price made two stops, first diving and stopping one shot, then catching a second. It was only because of an error by Price that she needed to make both stops. Boccarossa, who played in goal for the Belles when she was in high school, has been working with Price in goal since she was a freshman. "I, as a keeper myself, I have faith in her," Boccarossa said. "I always told her if she doesn't think she can catch it, be sure to get something on it and she did." Mount St. Mary had a key save with 1:40 remaining when Rogers had a numbers advantage on a breakaway. Price stopped the first shot, but another shot escaped from the scrum of players only to have Riley Hanan save a goal by kicking the ball away from the front of the net and preserve the Belles' victory. The Belles face 6A-Central champion Conway, winners of both games against Mount St. Mary this year, both by 2-0 scores. "We have some ideas of how we are going to take on Conway, but I can't divulge them, " Boccarossa said. "They are a really solid team. We have to be on our game. "We played two tough games against them, and this will be our third tough game. We are confident, but we have to play our game."

DEFENDING CHAMPS ROGERS ELIMINATED

MIKE SMITH

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 5/11/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Rogers High School Athletics