Panthers clip Pointers in River Valley Cup

The Van Buren Pointers did everything Friday afternoon against Siloam Springs except put the ball in the net. Siloam Springs' Christian Alvarado-Marroquin, on the other hand, didn't miss the chance he had. Alvarado-Marroquin's penalty kick with 9:38 left in the second half carried the Panthers to a 1-0 win over the Pointers in the first round of the River Valley Cup at Blakemore Field. Van Buren (3-4) will face former 7A-Central foe Conway this morning in the loser's bracket at 8:30 a.m. "Playing a much shorter game, sometimes you start to push — especially if you fall behind by one," Van Buren coach Nathan Almond said. "I felt like we started to push and now let our possession build. We were creating some good opportunities, we just couldn't finish. You have those games — it happens." The Pointers had a series of chances early in the second half of the match. Because there are four matches to be played from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the regular 40-minute halves are cut to 30. Alvarado-Marroquin lined up his game-winner on a penalty kick. Van Buren goalie Andy Lopez had no chance. "He got it right in the corner," Lopez said. "There wasn't much I could do on that one. It was kind of a crushing defeat, but I thought both teams went out there and played well." Van Buren had one final chance with 3:28 left when Ivan Torres lined one up from 20 yards out that sailed wide left. "We're just going to have to show up in the morning and play whoever we get," Almond said. "The whole point of these tournament games is to get guys out there on the field and try and get better. We'll keep working and do the things we need to do to get better."

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PANTHERS CLIP POINTERS IN RIVER VALLEY CUP

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 3/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell