File photos by Rick Nation
Houston Clifton, left. (File photo by Rick Nation)
For five seasons, Jason Hay coached the Bryant Hornets soccer team to new heights. In 2014, he took a job as assistant principal at Hurricane Creek Elementary School as his assistant Brett Haugh took over. But when Haugh moved back to Texas before the 2014-15 school year, school officials worked out a schedule that would allow Hay to return to coach the Hornets this season.
The Hornets are coming off a second consecutive South Conference championship, posting a 16-5-1 record. After earning a first-round bye in the Class 7A State Tournament, they lost a heartbreaker in double-overtime to Springdale Har-Ber, the eventual State runner-up.
Bryant opens the 2015 season on Saturday with a jamboree at Hornets Stadium that will include Cabot, Batesville and Valley View. Bryant will scrimmage all three starting at 9:40 a.m.
Hay welcomes back nine seniors who were sophomores when he last coached in 2013. Among them are two all-conference players in Collin Campbell and Corey Ballew along with all-conference honorable mention players Dylan Wolf, Houstin Clifton and Jack Buck.
Krishna Gurung (7) tries to maneuver around a defender. (File photo by Rick Nation)
The senior group also includes Edwin Vicente, Logan Moore, Danny Vivar and Chris Godwin.
Juniors are Krishna Gurung and Davis Toler. Sophomores include John Sohn, Andy Doonan, Johnny Navares, Kobe Ray, Alex Ibarra, Dalton Bryant, James Lasley, Javier Zamora, Connor Qualls, Hayden Ray and Logan Valestin. New to the team are freshmen Luke Welch, Adolfo Martinez, Jack Suarez, Arron Sahlmann, Reese Graham, Jhorman Cruz, Edgar Tejada, Henry Chun, Cole Gillespie, Dawson Oakley, Ricky Barrientos and Miguel Garcia.
“Coach Haugh left me in good shape,” Hay said. “We’d been together for a couple of years so the system is about the same. I’ll probably pick the tempo up a little bit from last year just because that’s my style.
“We’ve got a good group of freshmen,” he related. “I’ve gotten to know the sophomores that I didn’t get to coach last year. I coached a club team so there are several of them that I got to know in the fall. So I think I’m a little bit ahead of where I would normally be this time of year.
Jack Buck (File photo by Rick Nation)
“I think we’ve got a good solid team,” said the coach. “We’re young. I’ve got 35 kids. It’s the most I’ve ever kept. Usually I only kept 30 at the most. So we’re pretty loaded with ninth and 10th grade players — over half my team. I’ve got a good core senior group.”
The Hornets will play a 30-minute scrimmage against Cabot then 25-minutes each against Valley View and Batesville.
“I’m going to try to put three different lineups out there because nobody’s spot is set in stone yet,” Hay related. “So I’m going to try to get as many kids as I can out there and just see how we compete.”
Bryant opens the regular season on Tuesday, March 3, at Little Rock Central. They’ll host Little Rock Christian on Thursday, March 5.
For the full Hornets schedule, go here.
