At 4 p.m. today, the opponent is the same, and looms just as large as ever, but the key difference this year is Cabot. The Lady Panthers have had a single-minded focus on returning to this game. A year’s experience and a ton of gained confidence makes for an obviously different approach, according to head Panther Kerry Castillo.
“Their mindset is so different,” Castillo said of his players. “They were scared to death last year, just scared to death. They’re really confident this year. There may be a bit of nervousness, I guess. But I really think it’s more anxiousness. They want this game. I’ve talked about playing this game again since tryouts and really since before that. We made it our goal to finish right here a year ago. I can just tell they’re full of confidence.”
The team’s two leading scorers corroborated their coaches’ account. Junior Tristyn Edgar, who will graduate early and play next year for Tulsa University, echoed Castillo.
“Last year we were terrified to play them,” said Edgar. “As soon as the buzzer went off we were all devastated. The next week we had practice. So we started toward this last May.”
Senior Hadley Dickinson, who will be a UCA Bear next season, says the goal was set even sooner.
“I think immediately after it happened,” said Dickinson. “As soon as time ran out on the clock I knew I wanted to get back here.”
And the fact that the opponent is the same team is an even bigger motivator, according to the senior.
“We have a chip on our shoulder since they beat us last year,” Dickinson said. “It just makes us want to beat them more.”
That will be no easy feat. The Lady Tigers are 21-3, but have not lost to a team from Arkansas all season. They are 18-0 against in-state competition, and two of their three losses were the first two games of the season way back on Feb. 21 and March 3.
Those in-state games, for the most part, haven’t been close. In their 18 games against teams from Arkansas, Bentonville has outscored its opponent 87-3. The 14 7A-West Conference wins were by a combined 75-3. The Lady Tigers overall goal difference, including the out-of-state games, is 105-14.
“They are very solid, defensively,” Castillo said. “I watched them play Har-Ber and Southside in the playoffs, and they’re good offensively, too. They’re athletic, a very good attacking team. They’re a tremendous challenge for anyone.”
Bentonville’s dominance is even more impressive considering how many players the team graduated after last year. One key player that didn’t graduate, though, is leading scorer Lauren Hargus. Even though a total of 15 different players have scored at least one goal this year, Hargus has scored more than twice as many as anyone else with 29. Senior Emma Welch has scored 14 goals and freshman Angelina Diaz has posted 11 goals.
“Watching them play, I didn’t see a lot of familiar faces,” Castillo said. “That is, except for Hargus. She’s a dangerous player. We’re certainly going to be looking for her.
But what makes Bentonville so good is, they’re the same – same every year. Same style of play, same philosophy, same characteristics. They just hone. They hone and hone until they’re really good at it.”
Sophomore Gracen Turner, who started as a freshman in last year’s title game, points out on particular things she’ll know this year that she didn’t necessarily know last year.
“They are very physical,” said Turner. “I feel like we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. So from learning from last year, we’re coming into it with a little more confidence.”
Cabot, likewise, has had an impressive season. The Lady Panthers are 23-2, and haven’t lost in more than two months. They have 18-straight games since falling 1-0 at Little Rock Christian Academy on March 8, and that game is a toss-out.
Castillo missed the game with a family medical problem, and starting goalkeeper Maggie Martin was also out.
Their 2-1 loss to Fayetteville on March 4 was avenged emphatically just six days later, 4-0, and then again on Saturday in the 2-0 win in the state semifinals. Cabot’s total goal for and against this season is 96-23.
With so few low points, the Lady Panthers have not had many moments of adversity. One came in the quarterfinals against Bryant. Cabot had dominated the action throughout, but missed several shots on goal, and then suddenly found itself in a 2-2 when Bryant scored with only 14 minutes to play.
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