Bulldogs lose two on the road in soccer

EUREKA SPRINGS -- About two miles west of Eureka Springs, nestled between a quiet mountain stream and steep mountains, is a beautiful park named Lake Leatherwood. Hardly a place to find a soccer field, one would think. But built into the valley floor are baseball, soccer and youth soccer fields. In this tranquil setting the Decatur Bulldogs played their second conference soccer match of the season against the Highlanders of Eureka Springs.

The Bulldogs were the first to score on a corner kick by Jafett Puga early in the first half. However, the Bulldogs' slow defensive pace allowed the Highlanders to attack the net and slip three points past goalkeeper Sebastian Perez to take a 3-1 lead into the break.

Decatur increased the intensity on defense in the second half but struggled on the offense. Jimmy Mendoza attacked the goal three times and finally scored in the last five minutes of the match. Eureka Springs put one in on a corner shot giving them a 4 to 2 lead and the match.

"Eureka's team was a tough opponent tonight with their number 10 (Oscar Mendez) hurting us throughout the match," said Barry James, Decatur's soccer coach. "We still need to work on the defense a little but our main problem was the lack of shooting by the offense. We hardly shot the ball, which shows what we need to work on to prepare for the next game."

Earlier in the week the Decatur soccer team traveled to meet the Green Forest Tigers for its first conference match of the season on March 28. The Bulldogs started out slow in the first half, allowing Green Forest to slip the ball past the goalkeeper for a point and a 1 to 0 lead going into the break.

The Tigers extended their lead by one early in the second half, 2 to 0. The Bulldogs picked up the pace in the last five minutes of the match on a free kick by David Lopez and an one-on-one kick by Jafett Puga. The second half ended with a 2 to 2 tie, forcing the match into a tie breaker.

Decatur and Green Forest added a third point to the score before the Tigers took advantage of two missed shots to win the match, 5 to 3.

"I was really happy with the offense," James said. "We did some things in the game to make the offense more fluent."

The Bulldogs are now 0 and 2 in conference play going into their next match at home in Bulldog Stadium April 7 against the Berryville Bobcats. The match starts at 5:30 p.m.