With some new faces to the roster, it took the Northside Grizzlies soccer team a while to get going.

But along with several familiar faces who were part of a state championship team last season, the Grizzlies once again have the look of a state title contender.

After giving up a goal early in the second half that tied the score, the Grizzlies answered seconds later and hung on for a 2-1 6A-Central win against Conway on Tuesday at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.

Northside (12-5, 8-3), in second place in the conference, has now won seven of its last eight games.

“That’s when you want to start having your team get better going into the playoffs, which is what happened last year and I like us going into the playoffs,” Northside coach Mauricio Maciel said. “These guys are starting to come along and have more trust in each other.”

Junior forward Christian Chavez, who played an integral role in the team’s run to the 7A state title a season ago, said it was also trusting the newer players on the roster.

“It’s just been taking a lot of hard work and dedication,” Chavez said. “Yes, we had new players but we just had to trust them and put them into what they’re capable of doing and they’ve been doing great things.”

Chavez had a hand in the Grizzlies’ two goals on Tuesday.

He put Northside on the board five minutes in by delivering a shot from nearly 15 yards out into the left corner after teammate Kelvy Trinidad delivered a pass to Chavez from near midfield.


Then, just 35 seconds after Conway (9-7-1, 7-4) tied the score nearly 10 minutes into the second half, Chavez came through again.

With Northside attacking Conway’s end, Chavez found teammate Luis Paredes. A senior midfielder, Paredes received the pass on the run and knocked in a shot which found the upper reaches of the net, putting the Grizzles right back in front.


“We always get angry whenever we get scored on, so we had the intensity right off the kickoff,” Chavez said. “All of our offensive players were going together and they expected me to take the shot but Luis sneaked up right behind me and I just laid it out for him and he put it right where it needed to be.”

The Grizzlies’ defense, especially sophomore goalkeeper Juan Rivera, did the rest.

Rivera made several big saves down the stretch, including a diving stop on a 30-yard kick attempt with less than nine minutes left. The Grizzlies were also able to successfully defend a corner kick attempt entering the final minute of play.

?(Rivera has) been blossoming as the season has come along and he’s just earned our trust and he’s done well for us,” Maciel said.

“We knew it was going to be a physical, scrappy game. ... I liked the fact that the guys kept their composure, because in a game like that, it’s easy to lose your head, but I love the way they kept their composure and they just continued to play and that’s one of the highlights of the game.”


The Grizzlies continue conference play on Friday with a road game at North Little Rock. They return home on April 30 for Senior Night against Cabot.

Conway 4, Northside 0

GIRLS — The Lady Wampus Cats remained undefeated in 6A-Central play as they posted the win against the Lady Bears on Tuesday.

Conway scored two goals in both halves. The Lady Wampus Cats made it 3-0 less than a minute into the second half on a goal from sophomore Hope Chagnon.

With about 10 minutes left, junior forward Kailyn Pavatt found the net for the second time in the game as Conway (14-1-1, 11-0) had its final goal against Northside (7-10, 3-8).
