Hornets earn first win over Little Rock Central since 1998; Lady Hornets fall 1-0

BRYANT, Ark. — Reed Evans knocked in a penalty kick with around five minutes left to play as the Bryant Hornets, on the heels of a 5-1 loss at Little Rock Central on Monday, whipped the Tigers, 2-1, on Tuesday as they celebrated Senior Night at Bryant Stadium. It was just the second time a Bryant team has ever defeated a Central squad. The only other time was a 2-1 win in the second round of the 1998 Region 3 (State) Tournament.

Though the Lady Hornets suffered a tough 1-0 loss, they too provided a sterner test for Central's Lady Tigers on Tuesday after their own 5-1 loss at Central on Monday.

The win helped salve some of the wounds the Hornets have suffered this season, improving their record to 8-13 overall and 2-11 in 7A-Central Conference play going into their final game at Cabot on Thursday. A ninth win at Cabot would give the Hornets more wins that all but three past Bryant teams (which all won 11 games) in 2005, 2000 and 1998.

The Lady Hornets, who had already clinched a bid to the Class 7A State Tournament, dropped to 11-8 and 5-8. Its the winningest season for a Bryant girls team since the 2004 team won 12 games and the 2000 team won 16.[more]

In the boys game on Tuesday, Central took a 1-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the half.

"They got a good chip shot in," noted Hornets coach Jason Hay. "Our keeper (Devin Norris) was kind of in the sun. 

It was hard for him to even react to it. It was pretty blinding down on the north end."

The 1-0 lead held until midway through the second half when the Hornets tied it.

"Off a corner kick, we kind of had two guys get their chests into it," Hay related. "(Aaron) Prewitt and (Jonathan) Lowery off a throw-in from (Tim) Ezel. We use (Ezel) anytime we get inside the 18 on a throw-in. We play them just like a corner. It bounced around and they both got a piece of it.

"With about five minutes to go, we took another corner and it bounced out to the short guy," he continued. "We took a chip shot and one of the Central players just caught it. It was like he was catching a touchdown pass in the end zone, right in front of the goal. He caught it and that's an automatic red (card) and ejection. And Reid stepped up and iced it with a good PK.

"Once we scored, we tried to get real defensive, playing with just one forward, and we finished it out," concluded the coach.

"We played hard," he noted. "I was really proud of them. We knew last week, we were going to miss the playoffs. Some of our seniors could've shut it down but they didn't. The freshmen are starting to play like they've been here a while. It was just a good effort overall."

Hay lauded the play of Norris in goal. "He had a great game," he said. "He had a whole bunch of saves, one was when Central got a guy behind and it was just one-on-one. Devin came out from the goal and just took it from him. I mean, he slide-tackled him and took it. It was awesome. I thought it was a for-sure goal. He really saved us. And he's been playing sick. He's got a fever. It shows a lot about his character too, staying out there even though he's been sick all week.

"We've been dying to win one," Hay stated. "We've had so many close ones these last few weeks."

Of the girls game, head coach Doug Maxwell, who was also making his final home appearance as Lady Hornets head coach, said, "The girls played so much better than Monday.

"We were pretty much holding our own," he related. "We controlled the middle of the field a lot better than last night. We actually out-shot them 17-11 but we just couldn't find the back of the neck."

It's the team's sixth one-point loss of the season, Maxwell noted.

The lone goal didn't come until the second half. "They got lucky on a breakaway situation," recalled the coach. "A little 

communication mix-up on our defense there and they were able to turn around and sneak one in."

Keeper Megan Childress made 11 saves in the game. "She did a great job for us," Maxwell commented. "She turned back several opportunities they had.

"But we came up a little on the short side tonight," he added. "But, after last night's 5-1 loss and really almost total domination by them, I was really pleased to see us bounce back and play a little more of our style of game. We kept the ball on the ground and really dominated the midfield. They just got that one lucky break and beat us on it."