BRYANT, Ark. — It was a long way from the 7-1 loss they suffered at Russellville, but the Bryant Hornets were still not quite able to overcome the Cyclones on the return match on Tuesday, April 7.
On the strength of a pair of goals off of corner kicks in the first half, Russellville prevailed, 2-0, denying the Hornets the second 7A-Central Conference win that they’ve been desperately seeking.
“The defense played pretty good,” commented head coach Jason Hay. “We didn’t do a very good job marking up on our corners in the first half but after that we shut them down. (Goal keeper) Devin Norris had a very good night. He must’ve had five or six saves.[more]
“We did a much better job than last time,” he added. “We’re still struggling offensively. We got a few shots, took some cracks inside the 18 and they were just sailing over or wide. We hit the post once. We had a chance on a couple of corners but it bounced around and we just never got one in. It’s been kind of the same story all year. You can’t win if you can’t score.
“Usually, our best chances come on corners but we didn’t get anything out of them this time,” Hay acknowledged.
He praised the defense of his back four, Aaron Prewitt, Tyler Salminen, Tim Ezel and Seth Howard.
The Hornets face another big challenge on Thursday, April 9, when they host the defending Class 7A State champion Conway Wampus Cats. On Saturday, they travel to play in the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament.
