NORTH LITTLE ROCK — After a scoreless first-half battle, the Bryant Lady Hornets’ Rachel Buck, off an assist from Lily Miller, banged home a goal with 35:48 left to play. That held up for a 1-0 victory over the North Little Rock Lady Charging Wildcats on Wednesday.
It helped that Addison Funk, the Lady Hornets’ keeper, had nine saves in goal to earn the shutout, Bryant’s eighth of the season.
Bryant improved to 8-1-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the 6A-Central Conference going into Friday’s home match with Fort Smith Northside.
The contest was the first for the Lady Hornets after they suffered their only loss of the year to Conway, 1-0, on Monday.
“After losing to Conway, I was interested to see how we would respond,” said Lady Hornets coach Olivia Allard. “The girls really took that energy and brought it.
“Before the game, I changed some things on my defense and they adjusted beautifully,” she added. “I asked three freshmen (Cameron Cathey, Aaliyah Cooke, and Karen Giron) to really step up to the plate for us and they did everything I asked of them.
“I asked Lily and Rachel to hold down the midfield and they dictated play through there very well,” the coach related. “We still have to work on our touches and getting more shots off, but overall, I was very pleased.”
“Now we have to get ready for the next half of conference play and bring this same level consistently,” she concluded.
