File photos by Rick Nation
Caroline Campbell attacks the goal and the keeper (00). (File photo by Rick Nation)
The Bryant Lady Hornets came so close to winning a Class 7A State championship last year, losing a heartbreaker in the finals to Bentonville — their only loss of the season — that those returning are eager to give it another shot this year, especially with the State tournament set to be played at Bryant Stadium.
The Lady Hornets begin that quest with a preseason jamboree on Saturday that includes Batesville, Cabot and Valley View.
The returning players include leading scorers Caroline Campbell and Anna Lowery. Campbell was an all-State performer as a freshman last year. Lowery earned all-conference honors as a sophomore.
In addition, all-conference performers Hadley Dickinson, a sophomore, and Maddie Hawkins, a senior, return. All-conference honorable mention picks Allison Hughes, a senior, and Britney Sahlmann, a junior, return.
Saturday will serve as a tune-up for the Lady Hornets, who open the regular season at Little Rock Central on Tuesday, March 3.
“I definitely think that there’s a lot of carry-over,” said head coach Julie Long of the run to the championship game and the 21-1-2 season. “They kind of know what it takes to get there now.
“This is one of the hardest-working groups that I’ve had,” she added. “They’re pushing each other every single day. They want to get better. I think that part of that comes from them making it to the State finals last year and getting beat. They know that any other given day, given different circumstances, that they could’ve been the ones that won it. I think, if nothing else, it’s just kind of pushed them to be a little more hungry for it.
Keeper Maddie Hawkins (File photo by Rick Nation)
“I also think the fact that we’re hosting the State Tournament this year has given them an extra goal to push for because they don’t want to get embarrassed here, they don’t want to lose here,” the coach said. “They want to push and let people see the program’s success. I think that’s something they’re looking forward to as well, making that a goal on top of other goals.”
The team also includes senior Kierra Solinger, juniors Kara Moser, Kayla Dreher, Kendall Selig, Whitney Brown and Peyton Ramsey. Along with Campbell and Dickinson, sophomores include Ashlie Sparks, Natalie Pierce and Sarah Kennedy. New to the team are freshmen Jasmine Sauers, Katheryn Vivar, Jessica Butler, Jad’n Nichols, Hannah Fort, and Brittney Warner.
Moser and Ramsey, who both figured to play key roles, are out with knee injuries.
“Kara started for me last year until she tore hers in the spring against Conway. She got cleared and then tore it again in the fall.
Kierra Solinger (File photo by Rick Nation)
“Hopefully, Peyton will come back and she’ll be ready to go towards the end of April,” Long related. “We’ll see.”
Moser was a starter up until she suffered a torn ACL last spring. She was cleared to play in the fall but tore it again.
“I’m a little uneasy about exactly where we’re at,” Long stated. “We haven’t really put in a lot of offensive time. I usually save that until the end (of pre-season practice) and it just so happens that the last two weeks we’ve been out of school and haven’t been able to be out on the field whenever we have been able to practice.
“I do have a good solid group coming back, especially out of the group that started the State championship game,” she said. “I think our biggest issue is the depth that we have on our team. I don’t even have enough to fill a JV squad. So depth is going to be a big thing. If we have too many injuries, it could become an issue.”
“We have potential to be just as good or better than we were last year or we have potential to kind of have to work through some potential weaknesses,” Long related. “It’s going to come down to, if we have injuries.
“My girls are very well conditioned,” she noted. “I think about all of them could almost play a full game. They know we don’t have very much depth so they might not get the breaks they usually do. I think it’ll be interesting to see who rises to the occasion because it’s going to take a couple of people stepping up for us to be as successful as we have been in the past.”
As for Saturday’s jamboree, Long said, “I’ll be looking at the details of the game; where we need to do some tweaking. I’m still not exactly sure where everybody’s playing. I’m ready to try out some different things and see. It’ll tell me just where we are so we can get ready to play what I guess can be called a big rival now, Central, on Tuesday.”
She’s added that among the tweaks includes an alternate set.
“I am looking at playing a few different formations this year, which I normally don’t do but I think that, in order for us to utilize our strengths against all the different teams we’re going to play, we’ll need a couple of different formations. I think the girls are kind of excited about that. We’ve always played a 3-5-2 but, this year, I plan on putting in a 4-4-2 and playing the 3-5-2 against teams we need to play 3-5-2 against and playing the 4-4-2 against teams we need to play 4-4-2 against.”
For the full Lady Hornets’ schedule, go here.
