Lady Hornets ease to season-opening win at Benton
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BENTON — The Bryant Lady Hornets scored three quick goals against the undermanned Benton Lady Panthers on Friday night at C.W. Lewis Stadium. Everyone got to play as Bryant cruised to a 3-0 win in its debut under new head coach Julie Long.
“The girls’ effort in the first half was really impressive,” Long said. “They were excited and it was an exciting first half as far as the effort.”
Lexi Balisterri got the Lady Hornets’ on the board off an assist by Maggie Hart. Sarenety Gomez added a goal off a direct kick then Lauren Reed scored off a cross from Tarra Hendricks on a corner kick.
“I told the girls to really focus on winning the balls out of the air because that can win games and they only didn’t get two air balls the entire first half,” related the coach. “That’s pretty impressive. So their intensity level the first half was way up.
“The second half, I pulled them off and told them to play possession,” she said. “We worked on some patterns and things that we’ve been working on all pre-season, just trying to get our passing game under control. I told the girls to really focus on that going out for the second half so I kind of took their minds off scoring.
“It gave me a chance to see where our passing was and our possession because that’s the kind of game I’m trying to get them to be able to play,” she added. “We got to work on a few different things.”
Benton hardly managed a shot on goal either. “I think our keepers only touched the ball once the whole game,” Long mentioned.
“I was proud of them,” she concluded. “I thought all the girls did really well. I thought they all jumped in and were ready to play.”
The Lady Hornets will take on Texarkana in their home opener on Thursday, Feb. 25. For a complete schedule, see the “Pages” box on the left column of the site.
