VAN BUREN — The heart rate got a little high for Russellville boys soccer coach Jared Fuller during the closing seconds of Friday’s game, but it was all celebration after the final horn.
Van Buren had a frenzied attack in the final moments of the game. Russellville was able to hold on for a come-from-behind 2-1 victory in a 5A-West Conference matchup at Blakemore Field.
“I”m getting older,”‘ Fuller said with a laugh. “I’m trying to keep it down. But we survived. We for sure got excited.”
Russellville (11-1, 6-1) knew it needed to win Friday night to control its destiny in the conference race being behind Van Buren by one game in the standings.
It wasn’t easy, falling behind a goal early in the second half, but the Cyclones found a way to force a tie atop the standings.
“We needed this one to stay in the race,” Fuller said. “We didn’t want to hang our heads and hope they trip up down the road. We talked taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Van Buren’s Pedro Rodriguez helped the Pointers take a 1-0 lead early in the second half. He was fouled inside the box and then converted his penalty kick just eight minutes after the break.
Russellville was able to find its offense after that in this rematch of the Class 5A state championship match from last year. They scored back-to-back goals to close out the game.
Fernando Castro scored on a header from an assist from Christian Reyes to tie the game at 1-1 for Russellville with 10 minutes left. Nestor Chrisostomo provided the game-winning goal with a pass from KyJuan Martinez just a minute.
“It was a really good pass,” Chrisostomo said. “It kind of lucky a little because it went between a defender’s leagues, but we will take it. I finished it off after that. We are excited about this win.”
Van Buren (8-2-1, 6-1) nearly tied the game in the closing moments of the game. The Pointers had a pair of shots on goal and a couple corner kicks, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Their best look was off a kick from Kylan Almond.
Russellville keeper Noe Jimenez, who finished with nine saves, and defender Alex Bonilla, who had a pair of the saves in the game, were up to the task to preserve the lead.
“This was two good teams that are strong and it was a back-and-forth game,” Van Buren coach Nathan Almond said. “We left some goals out there. Their keeper is pretty special. I always tell my boys if we are creating opportunities, I always feel fine after games. You would like to win, but we are going to be alright.”
Russellville was the more aggressive team in the first half, finishing with 8 shots with 5 being on goal. Van Buren had just 6 first-half shots with 2 being on goal. The Pointers were much more aggressive in the second half. They out-shot Russellville 14-7 and had more shots on goal, 7-4. But the Cyclones defense didn’t give up another goal after the initial one of the game.
“We didn’t get breaks to go our way,” Fuller said. “We talked about at halftime the only thing we can do is just keep going at them. We felt like the next shot for us would go in.”