Green Forest boys claim third state championship

Winning a state soccer championship isn’t easy. The Green Forest Tigers just made it look that way.

The Tigers claimed their state title on Saturday, May 20, scoring three second-half goals to defeat 3A-West conference rival Haas Hall Academy of Bentonville 4-1 in the championship game of the Class 3A boys state soccer tournament at Estes Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Green Forest never trailed, taking the lead less than 10 minutes into the game on a goal by senior captain Izaak Merida. The Tigers outscored their four state tournament opponents by a combined margin of 25-2. It’s the second state title in the past three years for the Tigers, who beat Harding Academy in the 2021 championship game. Green Forest won the Class 4A state championship in 2014.

In two previous meetings this season, Haas Hall tied Green Forest once and beaten the Tigers once.

“I am thrilled with the results!” Green Forest coach Adam Richter said. “Of course, this was the goal from the beginning of the season, but it’s incredible that we made it all the way. As a firstyear head coach, it’s the best way I could have envisioned the end of the season.”

In the first few minutes of the game, Haas Hall was the more aggressive team, pushing the ball to the Tigers’ end of the field. But once Green Forest settled in, the momentum turned for good.

“Haas did start out aggressive,” Richter said. “For the first 10 minutes or so my team was playing very nervous. The state final is a big stage, and our team was pretty young. Four of our starters for the match were freshmen. I think it took them a while to get in the swing of things before we started playing our possession game.”

Green Forest’s seniors — who were sophomores on the 2021 title team — came up big. Merida, who was injured in a physical semifinal victory over Central Arkansas Christian a week earlier, pushed the ball past a pair of Huskies defenders and into the goal with 30:24 remaining in the first half, giving the Tigers an important early lead. Merida played sparingly, but his contribution was critical.

“Izaak’s early goal was crucial to the momentum of the game,” Richter said. “I believe the boys kept their heads up and were able to stay in it because of the lead. Izaak had a knee sprain against CAC that continued to cause him trouble in the match. He was cleared to play, but I didn’t want to risk a serious injury. We tried to give him breaks as needed.”

Scoring opportunities were rare for Haas Hall, but when the Huskies did get close to the net, Green Forest’s senior goalkeeper, Chuy Romero, kept them at bay for the first 33:33 of the game. Romero came up with a at least three nice saves, including one on a penalty kick late in the game.

“Chuy did incredibly,” Richter said. “He didn’t have to do too much during the game, but he impressed us with his saves every time he was needed. We are going to miss his ability next season.”

Nursing the 1-0 lead at halftime, Richter said he told his team to be patient over the final 40 minutes.

“At halftime, I told the team that we need to play our game, the way we play it — not just booting the ball up to the opponent’s side of the field and hoping to beat their defenders,” Richter said. “We have practiced all season on making short, simple passes to maintain possession. I am perfectly happy with keeping possession of the ball, even if we have to pass it all the way back to our keeper to find open spaces and create opportunities.”

Senior Elvin Montoya set the pace as the Tigers (16-3-2) followed Richter’s instructions. Montoya served as Green Forest’s primary ballhandler on the way to earning Most Valuable Player honors. His pass to sophomore Milton Ortiz less than eight minutes into the second half set up a goal by Ortiz that extended the Tigers’ lead to 2-0.

“Elvin played an incredible game,” Richter said. “He has been our number one with goal assists this season and he is so good at creating goal scoring opportunities. He deserved the MVP that he was awarded.”

Green Forest made it 3-0 when sophomore Eric Salazar scored on a breakaway with 16:01 remaining. If there was any suspense remaining, junior Edgar Duenas dispensed with it when he booted in a goal from 30 yards out with 11:08 left for a 4-0 lead.

Haas Hall scored its lone goal of the day with 6:27 left, but it was too little, too late for the Huskies. When the final horn sounded, a jubliant group of Tigers celebrated with the championship trophy.

“We are all so overjoyed,” Richter said.