It was at the end of what Bentonville coach Mike Devaney called “a poor week” when his team suffered a 5-0 loss to Springdale High.

Now the Tigers have a chance to make amends for that loss and a little more Tuesday night when they host the Bulldogs in the rematch at the Tiger Athletic Complex. The winner of that game grabs sole possession of first place in the 7A-West Conference with only three games remaining.

“We didn’t defend very well that night,” he said. “We allowed them to have too much time and space near the box, and we got punished. We’ve defended the goal much better since then, but I told our players if we don’t defend well Tuesday night, we’ll get punished again.

“I told the boys that now it comes down to the games we want to play. These are the games that count and the games that now matter.”

Bentonville (12-2-1, 10-2) has won six in a row since that loss to Springdale, but the Tigers haven’t taken the easy road during that stretch. They started the streak with three straight penalty-kick victories, then earned their easiest victory with a 3-0 decision over Fort Smith Northside.

Bentonville kept things alive with a pair of one-goal victories last week, knocking off Fort Smith Northside 2-1 before claiming a 1-0 decision over Springdale Har-Ber and avenging the Tigers’ first loss of the season.

“The gray hairs are starting to be more abundant and the blood pressure is a little more elevated,” Devaney said with a laugh. “It’s hard enough to get wins in this league, so if you squeak out wins, you just take them at this point.

“I don’t think the scores were indicative of the games. I thought we were very good against Northside and gave up a goal in the last few minutes. Against Har-Ber, we had three or four shots at goals in the second half and could have pulled away. But the boys are battle tested.”
