Republic took the lead in the second half, but Bentonville, Ark., answered with three unanswered goals to hand the Lady Tigers a 4-2 loss at the Kickapoo Shootout.
Bentonville struck first, but Republic leveled the match with 17:44 left in the first half, finishing a corner kick when it deflected off a defender on the way into the goal.
The match was tied 1-1 at halfime. Senior goalkeeper Awbree Berning made back-to-back stops — scooping up a ball skidding across the turf on the left side, then diving to knock away a second chance — before Wistrom put Republic in front. With 30 minutes left, a Bentonville foul deep in the corner set up a free kick that was played in perfectly to the right side, and Wistrom rose to head it home. Republic led, 2-1.
But the lead didn’t hold. A Bentonville forward beat the Republic defense into the box and fired past Berning on the left side to tie it at 2-2. Bentonville then converted a penalty kick to take a 3-2 lead. With 14 minutes remaining, a shot from 25 yards sailed into the top right corner to make it 4-2.
Republic falls to 9-6 and hosts Webb City on Tuesday.
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