Three Benton Panthers soccer players were named 6A All-State, while seven were tabbed All-Conference recently.
Seniors Breck Rambo and Kolton Ritter, and Benton High School junior school record-holder in goals Garrett Bosley were all honored All-State.
Rambo, who will also play in the Arkansas Activities Association All-Star Game, was second on the team with 10 goals and led the Panthers with 19 assists this season, which placed him third all-time in career assists with 38.
“Breck was our on-the-field general,” Benton Coach Bobby Winn said. “He was our team captain. When he was doing well in games and controlling the midfield, it opened up the game.
“We asked him to do a lot. Running 80 yards playing offense and then turning around to hustle back another 100 playing defense really showed the character of the kid. He never missed practice, always came upbeat. His stat line showed it. He really filled the role he stepped into and mastered the last two years.”
Ritter filled in nicely for Winn and the Panthers when injuries reared their ugly head early on in the season. Ritter scored five goals and added an assist while mainly playing defense.
“Kolton definitely became a great role player these last two years, but really stepped it up this year with all the injuries,” Winn said. “In those early games when we needed a goal … Bosley was out, Rambo was at midfield … he volunteered to go play forward, which doesn’t really score goals, but he actually did. A lot of those crucial games where we were missing five, six guys, he’d play forward for a little bit and go back to the defense so we would hold on. He became a very vocal on-the-field leader that really helped out our season.”
Bosley broke a school record with 31 goals this season, despite missing three games early on. The 31 goals upped his Benton record-breaking career total of 88 goals and he still has another year to add on to that. Not only did he score 31 goals, he also dished out 14 assists, good for second on the team.
“He’s kind of the driving force for the team to get behind,” Winn said of Bosley. “Having him back really helps when he’s healthy. He’s one of those guys on the field that really just sparks the team overall.”
The Panthers, which finished 16-3-1 overall and fell to Siloam Springs in the 6A semifinals (with their only three losses coming against championship game participants Russellville and Siloam), also had seven All-Conference performers.
Junior keeper Matthew Braslavsky (64 saves), junior Dawson Ramsey (six goals, three assists), senior Quinton Jackson (one assist playing defense), sophomore Zach Hardister (one assist playing defense) and senior Nabor Simon (seven goals, three assists) all earned First-Team All-Conference.
Taking second-team honors were juniors Jeiden Ibarra (six goals, two assists) and David Couto (one goal, two assists.)
“I’m just excited the way we finished this year,” Winn said.