The Bryant High School soccer teams begin their bids for Class 7A State championships today when they open tournament play at Bentonville (girls) and Fayetteville (boys).
The Lady Hornets, the top seed from the West Conference, will face the Rogers Lady Mounties at 2 p.m., after earning a first-round bye. Rogers, the fifth-seeded team from the West, defeated North Little Rock, 2-0, on Thursday to advance.
The Hornets, seeded second in the West, will be challenged by the Springdale Har-Ber Wildcats at noon. Har-Ber, the sixth-seeded team from the West, ousted Cabot, 3-1, on Friday.
Both Bryant teams advanced farther than ever before last season by making it to the State semifinals last year. Wins today would get them each back there again for matches on Saturday. If the girls win, they’ll play Saturday at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Little Rock Central-Fayetteville contest. If the boys win, they’ll advance to play again on Saturday at noon against the winner of today’s Fort Smith Northside-Fayetteville match.
Here are the updated brackets:
CLASS 7A STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Girls
At Bentonville
Thursday, May 15
Game 1 — Springdale Har-Ber (West 4) 1, Conway (Central 5) 0
Game 2 — Cabot (Central 3) 4, Rogers Heritage (West 6) 3
Game 3 — Rogers (West 5) 2, North Little Rock (Central 4) 0
Game 4 — Fayetteville (West 3) 3, Fort Smith Southside (Central 6) 0
Friday, May 16
Game 5 — Mount St. Mary (Central 1) vs. Springdale Har-Ber, 10 a.m.
Game 6 — Bentonville (West 2) vs. Cabot, 12 p.m.
Game 7 — Bryant (West 1) vs. Rogers, 2 p.m.
Game 8 — Little Rock Central (Central 2) vs. Fayetteville, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 17
Game 9 — Game 5 winner vs. game 6 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 10 — Game 7 winner vs. game 8 winner, 2 p.m.
Championship
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Game 11 — Game 9 winner vs. game 10 winner, TBA
Boys
At Fayetteville
Thursday, May 15
Game 1 — Fayetteville (West 4) 5, Little Rock Central (Central 5) 1
Game 2 — Springdale Har-Ber (West 6) 3, Cabot (Central 3) 1
Game 3 — Rogers (West 5) 3, North Little Rock (Central 4) 0
Game 4 — Springdale (West 3) 1, Conway (Central 6) 0
Friday, May 16
Game 5 — Fort Smith Northside (Central 1) vs. Fayetteville, 10 a.m.
Game 6 — Bryant (West 2) vs. Springdale Har-Ber, 12 p.m.
Game 7 — Bentonville (West 1) vs. Rogers, 2 p.m.
Game 8 — Little Rock Catholic (Central 2) vs. Springdale, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 17
Game 9 — Game 5 winner vs. game 6 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 10 — Game 7 winner vs. game 8 winner, 2 p.m.
Championship
At University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Game 11 — Game 9 winner vs. game 10 winner, TBA
Johnny McMahan
Bryant Sophomore Anna Lowery outfoxed two defenders and scored the only goal of the contest to lead the Bryant Lady Hornets to a 1-0 victory over the Rogers Lady Mounties in a 7A girls soccer tournament game Friday afternoon in Bentonville.
Lowery’s goal came with just over 4 minutes left in the first ten-minute overtime period after the game ended in a scoreless tie at 0-0 after 80 minutes of play. In overtime the team scoring first wins the game.
The Lady Hornets had 19 shots on goal but couldn’t make anything go into the net during regulation play.
Bryant will face the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers at 2:00 pm Saturday in one of the two tournament semi-final games.
Earlier in the season, the Lady Hornets defeated the Lady Tigers 4-0 in a home game