Lady Hornets hold off Belles to keep pace with Conway
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Photos by Nikki Funk
With a chance to pull even with the Bryant Lady Hornets for second place in the 6A-Central Conference, the Mount St. Mary Belles challenged but could not break through on Tuesday night at Bryant Stadium. The Lady Hornets, despite some injuries that had started out of the lineup, held them off, 2-1, to stay on the heels of the first-place Conway Lady Cats.
Alyssa Fason scored both of Bryant’s goals. The first came at the 24:20 mark of the first half off an assist from Ashton Inman. That held until halftime.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Fason was awarded a penalty kick and drilled it to make it 2-0.
Mount’s Kaitlin Tarini got the better of a two-on-one break and scored with 14:08 left but the Lady Hornets protected their lead the rest of the way.
Keeper Addison Funk had 10 saves.
“We didn’t have a ton of shots but had good possession,” said Lady Hornets head coach Nicole Inman. “With a couple of seniors out with injuries, our younger players had to step up and they did. Rachel Buck came in and played with great poise. Ashton Inman stepped up vocally and Melinda Hernandez really fought hard in the middle.
“Alyssa came ready to give it everything she had so that encouraged everyone else to do the same,” she added.
“Mount came to play,” the coach said. “They were physical and focused. They had some good attacks to goal and they had a good shot that went in.
“I’m proud of the underclassmen who decided to fight hard tonight and step up their game,” Inman concluded.
Conway defeated North Little Rock, 8-1, to stay unbeaten in league play. The Lady Hornets are now 8-1 in conference and 11-1 overall. They’re set to play at Little Rock Central on Thursday. If they can keep pace, the Lady Hornets will get another shot at Conway on Friday, May 3.
