CONWAY — De Queen senior Edwin Baltazar figured he’d see a comparable kind of defense to the ones he’d dealt with on the Leopards’ gone to the state last — double and triple groups wanting to in some way stunt the 30-goal scorer.
When Baltazar and Coach Stephen Sloan understood Dardanelle wasn’t even going to man-mark the star striker, they liked their opportunities.
Buoyed by Baltazar’s hat technique Saturday early morning, De Queen routed the Sand Lizards 5-2 at Estes Stadium on the University of Central Arkansas’ school and protected the Class 4A young boys state soccer champion.
Although the title was the Leopards’ initially in 8 years, it marked the program’s seventh all-time title — all under Sloan — after De Queen won 6 champions over 7 seasons in between 2009-15.
“In soccer, you have actually got to have some breaks occasionally,” Sloan said. “A few of those [past] years, those breaks type of broke us. This year, it simply looked like whatever lined up and it was simply among those dream seasons.”
Both groups required the very first 10 minutes to actually discover any type of footing, however it was the Leopards who took control from that point forward.
Baltazar, the competition MVP, then opened the scoring in the 13th minute after a cross from the left wing avoided Dardanelle’s keeper. When the ball fell kindly in the middle of package, Baltazar knocked it home from 10 backyards out.
De Queen (19-2) continued to accumulate opportunities prior to ultimately capitalizing in the 30th minute to double its lead. A totally free kick at midfield was played brief prior to being swung in from the right and discovering the head of a wide-open Baltazar, who put it high into the netting over the keeper.
“Everybody’s been having fun with each other considering that we were little bit, so we have actually type of have actually chemistry developed,” Baltazar said. “I scored 3 objectives, however I could not have actually done it without my colleagues.”
Gustavo Garcia assisted the Leopards continue penalizing the Sand Lizard defense after halftime. He swiped one away after it landed in between a protector and the goalie, pressing it over the line for De Queen’s 3rd objective. Garcia scored once again 3 minutes later on, tucking the ball in between the ideal post and a hobbled keeper who had actually clattered into the post seconds prior.
Down 5-0 after Baltazar’s 3rd, Dardanelle (14-6-1) discovered the net two times in the last 10 minutes through Alex Campos and a Jhoan Bonilla charge.
But it was far far too late versus a Leopard team that went into Saturday on a 14-game winning streak and, a minimum of by the noise of its crowd, appeared to have the assistance of all 6,000 individuals from De Queen.
“I understood they’d be here. They appeared 2 years back when we played in Benton,” Sloan said, including that he might hardly interact with his gamers throughout the video game. “They’re constantly there to support us and the huge send-off the other day in the area was remarkable.”
Fortunately, the Leopards’ head coach didn’t need to inform his group much.
“[The players] never ever wished to take a day of rest,” Sloan said. “That speaks volumes to them and how bad they desired it.”
Gallery: 4A Boys Soccer Championship
