Lady Tigers Adapt To Game Situations

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove freshman Ashley Clark, shown competing against Gentry when she scored a goal, helped the Lady Tigers earn their first win over Shiloh Christian in girls soccer action on Friday, April 5.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Prairie Grove freshman Ashley Clark, shown competing against Gentry when she scored a goal, helped the Lady Tigers earn their first win over Shiloh Christian in girls soccer action on Friday, April 5.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove won a huge 1-0 victory over Shiloh Christian on the road in conference girls soccer play Friday, April 12.

The win became the first victory over the Lady Saints for coach Stephanie Mitchell.

"My girls had several goals this year that we've talked about wanting to accomplish. That was definitely one of them. We've played some close games in the past, but we've never had that opportunity to pull out that victory and we did that this year and we're very excited about it," Mitchell said.

Last season, the Lady Tigers came close but the game went the other way with Shiloh winning 1-0. This time, Prairie Grove came away with the win as Teagan Higgins scoring the winning goal on an assist by Adamaris Lopez.

"Honestly, we played a great game. Our girls communicated well and had lots of runs," Mitchell said. "Shiloh kept us on our toes, but we matched them well. Very proud of how the girls played. Teagan Higgins scored with an assist from Adamaris Lopez. Gracie had 9 saves."

Mitchell praised the play of junior goalkeeper Gracie Pierce, who had at least 9 saves in the match.

Mitchell said the win over Shiloh gave the program a big boost.

"It was a big win for us and definitely something we were wanting to accomplish this season."

"They followed our goals that we talked about before the game. They played excellent defense, had good runs. They connected and shot when they needed to and finished," Mitchell said. "Coach McGee's got a great team and we're always thankful to play them. I love close games because you get to see two really good teams play against each other and we just did what we needed to and we came out on top. I'm proud of my girls for that."

In three consecutive games, Prairie Grove (12-3, 5-0) saw vast differences in game situations, yet the Lady Tigers were equal to the task each occasion -- in the 1-0 victory over Shiloh Christian and the 9-0 blowout win of Gentry on Tuesday, April 9 followed by a 1-0 road win at Dardanelle Friday.

"I tell my girls, whether it's 1-0, whether it's 9-0, it's a 0-0 mentality to they have to go there with the same mindset regardless of the team that we're playing," Mitchell said. "We can control how we play and that's what we plan to do every single game."

Sports on 04/17/2019