BENTONVILLE — Because of thunderstorms in northwest Arkansas on Friday, much of the[more] invitational soccer tournament at Bentonville High School was contested on Saturday. The Bryant Hornets actually ended up playing back-to-back games in the morning then coming back at noon for a third one.
As it turned out, they won one, lost one and tied one. They started with a 3-0 win over Springdale then lost 1-0 to Bentonville before finishing with a 2-2 tie against Springdale Har-Ber.
“I thought the guys played well in spite of being the only team to play three games in one day,” stated Hornets coach Jason Hay. “Long trip, very cold weather, playing very early, and back-to-back games could have made a lot of teams shut down. I was proud of how the guys didn’t complain and got after it for the day.”
In the win, Alex Rowlan got the Hornets’ scoring started.
“It was a great shot about 20 yards from the top of the 18,” Hay related.
Jesse Wolf got the assist. Wolf also got the assist on the second goal, knocked in by Bryce Denker.
Forrest Fowler and Josh Lowery combined for the third goal.
“Coming from the back through traffic, with a great layoff to Josh, who got it back to Forrest for the goal,” Hay recounted.
Of the match against Bentonville, the coach related, “We had 10 minutes of rest (between games). It was a defensive game. The only score was with 22 seconds left in the half on a long shot by Bentonville.”
Against Har-Ber, the Hornets fell behind early but, before the first half was over, Caleb Garrett scored off a header on a corner to tie it.
“The second half, we came out and finally started playing up to our speed,” Hay mentioned. “Har-Ber scored early in the second to go up 2-1. Justin Travis scored the final goal of the game with a volley for a goal to tie it.”
Bryant’s next action is Thursday at home.
“We are looking forward to playing four-time 6A State champs Searcy,” Hay said.
