5A West who's yr is it?

[puma]

I've seen some teams that are down this yr who will it be in the West?

[Go Postal]

Not sure yet, but...
In Conference:
Greenbrier boys, last year won the conference title, but lost to LRCA in the semis with only 10 men.  Not sure what they will bring this year.
Harrison boys, last year lost twice to Greenbrier in conference, but played the best soccer game that I have ever seen in any game in the semis against De Queen.  But lost in the finals to LRCA.   Not sure what they will bring this year.
There are some very great boy athletes in the rest of the West.  Still not sure yet.  Too early to tell.

Harrison girls, last year won the conference title, beat Shiloh ladies twice in conference by a large margin, but lost to them in the finals. They have a great start this year, in non conference, but there is some great lady athletes in this conference.

So still up in the air this early in the season.

(side note:  5A South De Queen boys, great team, if they have the same amount of players/skills that I saw last season could make it to the finals.  Just got to get to be use of the in-your-face-physical play that the West conference or LRCA from Central does.)

[coach cleats]

Hey Gang,
This is a hard question this early in season. I haven't seen any 5a west teams other than Harrison. They have played rogers heritage , Bentonville , Fayetteville, springdale, Rogers, Russellville. Five 7a and one 6a school. They lost to bentonville 4-2 and Fayetteville 2-1. They led the bentonville twice before running out of gas in second half. Bentonville has a large bench.
Shiloh coaches have been at harrison games, so they are serious about winning conference. I haven't seen any shiloh scores posted so I don't know who they have played.
So on the girls side harrison and shiloh.
Boys wide open.

[sevenof400]

I saw Morrilton last week and while I am NOT predicting they will win the 5A West this year, they are an improved team over last year.  Their overall team speed has improved and a couple of midfielders seemed to step up in our game last week.   

I have to believe Harrison and Greenbrier will be tussling for the 1 and 2 seeds.  Morrilton should be in the mix for a playoff spot this year - possibly as high as a 3 seed.  I have not seen Huntsville or Clarksville yet this year. 

[MDXPHD]

Greenbrier didn't look like they were on the same level as they were last year, but they do have a good defense and a couple of players that can attack well.  I will say Harrison and Greenbrier for 1/2 and then the rest will have to be played out. 

On the girls side of things, Harrison was clearly the best team in the state in 5A.  Yes, the lost to Shiloh, after out shooting them and hitting every possible part of the post, but I'm guessing they are out for revenge this season.  I think they will be making a statement to the West.

[sevenof400]

Shiloh had to be the -least- visually impressive team I saw all year last year - no height, no size, just a bunch of scrawny players but they more than made up for that with their work rate.  The two forwards kept a good line with each other and worked well off each other on the three occasions I had to watch them. 

Shiloh last year was one of those teams whose sum of the whole was greater than the sum of the individual parts.  If I recall correctly, they also did not have a lot of seniors did they? 

This year's Harrison - Shiloh games should be quite interesting. 

As an aside, I just looked back at last year's games and I am surprised at the margins.  Harrison owned the regular season.   

[The Coach]

Girls side it's Harrison then everyone else.

Boys side who knows.

[Go Postal]

Girls side it's Harrison then everyone else.

Boys side who knows.

Harrison boys/girls did well last year getting to the finals.

I agree on the boys side, still up for grabs.

Harrison boys/girls played a lot of bigger conference schools in preseason to find what needs to be worked on.

A lot of posters may not like what I say next, but see side note...

I believe that the Lady Goblins only lost one game in preseason to a 7A team beating other 6A/7A teams.  They have been doing fantastic so far.  In other words, Life is a B1+ch and her name is Lady Goblins.

side note:  Just beat the Lady Goblins, prove that you are the better team then you have my vote.

[The Coach]

Girls side it's Harrison then everyone else.

Boys side who knows.

Harrison boys/girls did well last year getting to the finals.

I agree on the boys side, still up for grabs.

Harrison boys/girls played a lot of bigger conference schools in preseason to find what needs to be worked on.

A lot of posters may not like what I say next, but see side note...

I believe that the Lady Goblins only lost one game in preseason to a 7A team beating other 6A/7A teams.  They have been doing fantastic so far.  In other words, Life is a B1+ch and her name is Lady Goblins.

side note:  Just beat the Lady Goblins, prove that you are the better team then you have my vote.

Lady Gobs have lost to Fayetteville 2-1 in a game they should have won. And they lost 4-2 to Bentonville a game they very easily could have won and led 1-0 and 2-1. They have dominated everyone else thus far. They still have a lot of room for improvement but it's coming as it always does with the Harrison Teams.

[Lionheart88]

So you're saying that if anyone else comes up against them, they should just park the bus in front of goal?

[Go Postal]

So you're saying that if anyone else comes up against them, they should just park the bus in front of goal?

Well, maybe yes.  That's what Shiloh girls did in the 5A Finals last year.  LOL!
But seriously now, there are a lot of great boys/girls teams out there in the 5A.  Any one can beat any one in any game.  The conference season has now started for some teams and will start for others next week .  Will be exciting.

[chaoslord]

Gonna be seeing Greenbrier pretty shortly, came here to hope to get a scouting report How are they? It sounds like they are down from last year but should still be pretty good. Is that a fair assesment?

[MDXPHD]

They have a solid defense (one player in particular) a few good offensive players. They have the potential to be similar to last years team.  That's just my opinion though. I can't give you much of a scouting report on them though, unfortunately.

[Go Postal]

Gonna be seeing Greenbrier pretty shortly, came here to hope to get a scouting report How are they? It sounds like they are down from last year but should still be pretty good. Is that a fair assesment?

They have a solid defense (one player in particular) a few good offensive players. They have the potential to be similar to last years team.  That's just my opinion though. I can't give you much of a scouting report on them though, unfortunately.

I was really impressed with the Panthers last year, winning West Conference Champs and playing LRCA well in the semis with only 10 men due to a red card.  I was really hoping for a all West showdown in the boys/girls finals game.

I saw and was surprised on some good boys/girls games last year from a lot of teams, but I think that the De Queen/Harrison boys semi game was the best game that I have ever seen in my life on any soccer venue.  You would have thought it was for the World Cup.   I don't think anyone in the State could have beat these two teams if they could play like that on every game.  A very fast paced offensive/defensive game.  (Wish I had a tape of this game.)

I believe that it was the first time that I ever have seen Harrison play as hard and with so much intensity/talent in any one game and there has been a lot of great games by the Golden Goblins over the years.

I didn't know much about De Queen other than that they were the 4 time straight 4A Champs and went undefeated in their 5A conference, 1st and quarter final rounds, but WOW!  When I saw that they had talent and around 45 players on the team and their first substitution was 7 players, then 6, the 5 and so on, then I thought that we were in trouble.  Great team, but kudos to Coach Pratt and the Golden Goblins on the win with their stamina with aggressive defense and offense play.  IF De Queen still has the same talent on this year's team and can get use to the in-your-face-physical play that the West and a lot of 5A public/private schools can dish out, then I see them going all the way to the 5A State Champs.

Good luck to all 5A boys/girls teams this year.  Cycle change next year.  Do your best.  Make this your year.