State championship win family affair for Panthers

Source: Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette

CONWAY -- Israel De La Rosa's first instinct was to turn and head toward the crowd of teammates rushing to meet him.

He had just scored his second penalty of the shootout, this one clinching an elusive state championship, and was headed right to the bench.

But just as he was about to embrace his teammates, a gray jersey caught his eye. De La Rosa spun around and stepped right into the hug he'd been waiting for -- one with Clarksville's goalkeeper, his older brother Juan.

De La Rosa's kick, the second one, sealed a penalty shootout win for Clarksville 9-8 in 11 rounds after heading to extra time tied 1-1 with Dardanelle in the Class 4A boys soccer state championship game Friday night at Estes Stadium.

Israel and Juan's older brother, Eduardo, played for Clarksville. But like every team since 2007, he and the Panthers couldn't secure a state championship.

Thanks to the goals and defensive heroics of Israel, the goalkeeping of Juan and the leadership of the De La Rosa brothers, that streak was broken Friday.

"They're vocal, they're leaders, they play together, they're family," Clarksville Coach Bryan Qualls said. "We try to create a family atmosphere for our soccer players."

Clarksville (12-5-3) has built its program on the idea of family -- both literal and metaphoric -- since Qualls took over more than 20 years ago.

"The culture has changed," he said. "It's a positive culture for us at Clarksville. We have a large number of Hispanics, we have a large number of Karen players. We just say, 'Hey, we're a family. We do stuff together. You're the soccer family. It doesn't matter where you come from, what color you are, we're going to be Clarksville Panthers.' "

Several players on the Panthers are members of the Karen (pronounced Kah-REN) ethnic group from Myanmar in Southeast Asia.

Clarksville controlled the early game Friday, but it couldn't find a clear scoring chance until the 22nd minute when Nathaniel Harris gave the Panthers the lead.

Most of the early chances for Dardanelle (16-4-3) came from corner kicks, but the Sand Lizards didn't have a shot on target with one until the second half.

In the 68th minute, Jose Chimy Alcocer tied the game at 1-1 on a counter-attack.

After two quiet extra-time periods, De La Rosa stepped up as Clarksville's first penalty taker, scoring the first of three straight penalties for the Panthers.

Qualls said he made sure his team spent extra time in practice in the buildup to Friday's game working on their penalties after two close games with Dardanelle in the regular season.

"When you get to those penalty kicks, your heart does a 180 every time they make one or every time you miss one," he said. "It's just that we've been there before."

Each team missed their fourth and 10th attempts. On the team's 11th attempt, it was De La Rosa again who slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to seal the win.

"I think I just dropped my head," Qualls said of his celebration. "This one, I was just so happy for the players and the coaches that work with me so much.

"We've been waiting for that -- 2007 was a long time ago. We've been working and working and working to get it. We needed it."