Lady Hornets close out undefeated regular season
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos by Rick Nation
Freshman Mary Catherine Selig scored off a corner kick from senior Kendall Selig just over halfway through the first half and the Bryant Lady Hornets made it stand up for a 1-0 victory in their final regular-season match on Senior Night against the Mount St. Mary Academy Belles Friday.
The Lady Hornets completed an unbeaten run through the regular season, the 7A/6A-Central Conference slate and in their league contests with 7A rivals.
Incredibly, the shutout was their 18th of the season in 20 matches. The lone goals were scored by Little Rock Christian and Fayetteville, which wrapped up the 7A-West Conference title with a win over Bentonville on Friday night.
Bryant defeated Fayetteville for the Class 7A State championship last season.
The Lady Hornets will begin the defense of that title on Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m. After receiving a first-round bye for the first round on Thursday. They’ll take on the winner of Thursday’s opening match between the third seeded teams from the West and the East. They’ll take a 19-0-1 overall record into State.
The Lady Hornets have now outscored their opponents this season 66-2.
In the first half of their match with the Belles, who will be the No. 3 seed from the Central at the 7A tourney, the Lady Hornets peppered the keeper with 15 shots but only Mary Catherine Selig’s shot from just in front of the goal on the right side found the mark.
Mount St. Mary struggled to attempt a shot in the contest.
On Senior Night, Kendall Selig, Kayla Dreher, Britney Sahlmann, Whitney Brown, Kara Moser, Anna Lowery and Peyton Ramsey were honored as well as senior manager Kaci Squires. In addition, head coach Julie Long was coaching her final home match. She has been hired as an assistant principal at Bryant High School for next year.
In four seasons, those seniors have been part of Lady Hornet teams that have posted a record of 81-6-4. They’ll be striving to reach the State finals for the third year in a row.
