Friday, March 18, 2011

SPORTS>>Lions top Panthers at home

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

The Searcy Lions recovered from an early defensive slip to win 2-1 over Cabot in non-conference play at Lions Stadium on Tuesday.

The Lions (5-1) gave up a goal by Panthers senior forward Logan Spry before rallying to tie by halftime, and Ian Hatchell gave Searcy its ultimate victory with a goal early in the second half.

It was 6A-East Conference member Searcy’s fourth victory over a Class 7A program.

“I’m very pleased with the way our team handled these tough teams,” Searcy coach Bronco King said of the scheduling. “We did it to help us out once we got to conference and later on to the state tournament. I think so far they’ve lived up to the challenge and have handled it real well.”

Spry kicked it in from the right side in the sixth minute following an assist from Panthers freshman Trevor Reid to give Cabot early momentum, but Searcy quickly counter attacked.

The Lions stretched the field and finally tied the game at the three-minute mark when Cam Woodruff assisted senior Steven Seitz, who got a one-on-one shot at Cabot’s goal.

“Overall, we played well,” Cabot coach Steven Porter said.

“We controlled possession and created numerous scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, we failed to put them away towards the end of the game and allowed ourselves to get stretched out.”

Cabot senior forward William Hidalgo was the Panthers’ best hope in the second half, coming close to scoring on a one-on-one break that was unsuccessful and later on a free kick that also fell short.

King praised the defensive efforts of James Atkins and Andrew Moore, and gave senior center mid-fielder Isai Garcia credit for good passes to the fowards.

“He’s a four-year starter,” King said of Garcia. “In basketball, they call the point guard the floor general — he’s our general on the soccer field. He’s as good as anyone in the state. He distributes it where we need it most.”

The Lions took the lead in the final 15 minutes when Kevin Berkheimer assisted to Hatchell for what turned out to be the winning goal.

“Searcy is a good team, and defending 6A state champions, but we were disappointed that we did not take full advantage of the amount of possession we enjoyed,” Porter said.

“I believe that we are close to being a very good team — we have to learn to stay focused for 80 minutes and do a better job of translating possession and opportunities to score goals.”

Cabot will have next week off for spring break before returning to action March 29 with the 7A-Central Conference opener at Conway.