Shootout favors Rogers over Bentonville

Mac Brace heard the sound of the soccer ball as it went past her hands and hit the crossbar, but she still hadn't realized what just transpired. It didn't take her Rogers High teammates long to let her know, though. It meant that Carrie Kotoucek's penalty-kick attempt had not gone into the goal, and the Lady Mounties had taken sole possession of first place in the 6A-West Conference standings Tuesday night with a 4-3 decision in penalty kicks at the Tiger Athletic Complex. "It was definite luck," Brace said. "She's a solid player, and I expected her to go to the bottom corner or the top corner. Thankfully, it hit the crossbar. I didn't know the game was over until I looked up and seen my teammates rushing onto the field. That's how I knew it was over." After both teams remained scoreless throughout regulation, Brace gave Rogers (12-1, 5-0) the upper hand when she blocked Tyler Ann Reash's penalty-kick attempt after each team had scored to start the shootout. The Lady Mounties kept that advantage as Samantha Todd, Aly Todd and Ashlyn Robinson were successful on their kicks while Angelina Diaz and Megan Sattler scored for Bentonville (11-2, 4-1). Rogers still had a kick remaining when Kotoucek stepped up to take her kick, but it didn't matter. Kotoucek's ball hit the left side of the crossbar and bounced away, giving the Lady Mounties their second straight shootout decision. "We came into this match with a healthy respect for Bentonville," Rogers coach Aaron Crouch said. "We knew we were going to have to battle to get the win. "We maybe had three or four shots, but if you look back, they didn't have that many either. With the exception of Mac Brace's four really, really good saves, it was pretty much a stale game. It wasn't super exciting; it was just really, really intense." The closest scoring threat in regulation came when when a Bentonville free kick from about 40 yards out glanced off one of the officials and went to Sidney Wagner inside the box. Brace, however, recovered in time to deny the shot and keep the match scoreless.

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SHOOTOUT FAVORS ROGERS OVER BENTONVILLE

HENRY APPLE

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 4/3/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff