Coming off a 2-0 loss on March 14 to the Northside Grizzlies in Fort Smith, the Har-Ber Wildcats (3-2-2) looked gloomy heading into a March 17 bout with the Rogers Mounties. The Wildcats had never came out of Rogers with a win in its history.
The night took a familiar turn, a déjà vu, as the Mounties took an early 1-0 lead for the 6th straight year on goalie Dan Hartigan.
“We had a bit of a defensive breakdown in the back, which resulted in an early goal, but our defense did a great job on holding off their fast paced attack the rest of the game,” said Hartigan.
Midway through the first half, Jose Gonzalez finished on the counter attack, and tied the game at one-all heading into intermission.
“We started out slow, but we were able to equalize it by halftime,” said Hartigan.
Shortly into the second half, Jorge Gonzalez drew a foul in the box on a long run to give Har-Ber a shot to take the lead.
Erick Landeros then completed the sequence with a PK-goal giving the Wildcats a 2-1 lead that would hold the rest of the game.
“The second half, we shut Rogers out with solid defending and got the winning goal thanks to the good work by our attackers and midfielders, which helped us get Har-Ber’s first ever win at Rogers,” said Hartigan.