After posting a 7-1 5A-Southeast Conference record and claiming a conference title, White Hall boys soccer coach Don Malone and the Bulldogs now focus on the Class 5A playoffs at Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Malone said White Hall (15-3) needs to continue to be as near-perfect as possible to keep the season alive as the Bulldogs open the playoffs against the No. 4 seed from the East, Paragould.
“We have to play extremely well on the defensive side of the ball and keep the scores down,” Malone said. “We need to step up to a level that we haven’t played at all year but are capable of. Goals will be few and far between from here on out.”
Goals have been fairly scarce against White Hall, as senior goalie Cody Jones, who will play at Williams Baptist College this fall, has posted six shutouts in White Hall’s 15 wins. Even in the three losses, Jones has managed the game well, losing twice by one goal.
“He is the heart and soul of this team,” Malone said. “He is an extremely intelligent player that sees the field very well.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Malone said he has a defensive unit that he would put up against any front in the state to compliment Jones in goal with Garrett Griffith and Shareif Shelton in the middle and Will Teitz and Inez Valdes out wide. Tommy Townsend plays the stopper role.
The Bulldogs look to leading scorer Jordan Lawson on the offensive end with Ruben Zamora, Ben Malone and Kinsey Kight available to hit the back of the net any time.
White Hall girls
The Lady Bulldogs open post-season play at 10 a.m. Thursday as the No. 2 seed from the Southeast against Vilonia, the No. 3 seed from the East.
White Hall coach Marc Oudin hopes to have starting goalie Ally Stewart back in time to start against the Lady Eagles.
“We believe we will have her back,” Oudin said. “We hope so because it really changes the dynamics of our team when we have her out there.”
This is the second consecutive year for the Lady Dogs to advance to the postseason, losing in the first round last year.
“We are excited to be going back,” Oudin said. “We feel like we have a chance to advance.”
Oudin looks to Corea Lowery, Maria Ramirez, Marliegh Pearce and Sarah Smith to produce offense. Oudin noted Lowery is a forward playing center-mid while Ramirez is fresh off a injury. Pearce was moved from center-mid to forward.
The Lady Dogs will play without Martina Bailey and Molly Tibbs, who are scheduled for AP testing and will miss the opener.
Monticello boys
Losing three in a row was not the way Monticello coach Britnee Wright wanted the regular season to end. She hopes the setbacks will create a hunger for the Billies, which tallied its first winning season in school history (10-9).
“We can either be completely crushed or we can bounce back from it,” Wright said. “I hope they come out with more fire and aggression. That’s what I expect.”
Monticello suffered a pair of one-goal losses in the final three games, a 2-1 setback to White Hall and a shootout loss to Sylvan Hills to close out the regular season. The loss to Sylvan Hills relegated the Billies to the No. 3 seed in the 5A-Southeast, setting up Thursday’s noon game against East No. 2 Vilonia at Burns Park.
Shane Bostian leads the Billies with 26 goals this year and will be counted on to help the Billies secure their first playoff win in school history.
Joe Bostian will be in goal.
Wright will seek a replacement for right defender Dustin Davis, who suffered a broken nose in practice this week.
Class 6A
Pine Bluff boys
Pine Bluff coach Richard Nekoranik and the Zebras earned a No. 7 seed in the Class 6A playoffs and are slated to play host Mountain Home in Thursday’s first round.
It will be the sixth time in Nekoranik’s nine years to advance to the postseason, though the Z’s have yet to come away with a victory.
Nekoranik plans to start Aubrey Williams in goal as the sophomore makes only his second start of the season.
Lorenzo Williams leads the Zebras in scoring with 10 goals this year. Kedrick Lashley and Dustin Williams join Williams on the offensive front. Defensively, Zach O’Donohue, Trevor Hunt and Brandon Lee attempt to prevent shots on goal.
Nekoranik said the opening-round playoff game against No. 2 Mountain Home will be a challenge.
“It’s going to be a test,” he said. “They are a very good program. We are going into this wanting to win but want to keep it close. Anything can happen in soccer and we want to stay within a couple of goals and have a shot.”
Sheridan girls
Sheridan’s girls enter the playoffs with a 12-6-1 overall record after a 5-3 6A-South Conference, good enough for a second-place tie. The Yellowjackets are the No. 3 South seed after losing the conference tiebreaker to Texarkana and will square off against East No. 6-seed Marion Thursday at 1 p.m. at Mountain Home. Texarkana drew East No. 7 Van Buren in the first round.
Lady Jackets coach David Clinton said the squad is healthy and ready to make a hard charge through the playoffs and that the No. 3 seeding could be the better path. Clinton’s daughter, Laura, will continue her stellar senior campaign after securing nine shutouts on the season and is expected to surpass the century mark in saves. She currently stands at 97.
In defensive protection, Clinton looks to senior Brittany Moore and sophomore Autumn Clark at sweeper and stopper for a unit that surrendered only 13 goals this year.
Senior Wynn Welch leads the offense that collected 43 total goals with 18 of her own followed by freshman Heather Carter’s nine.
Sheridan boys
Sheridan’s boys will start the postseason at 11 a.m. Thursday against No. 4-East seed Jonesboro after claiming the No. 5 seed from the South. First-round games will be played at the Mountain Home Soccer Complex with quarterfinal and semifinal action at Bomber Stadium at Mountain Home High School.