HARRISON — The Bryant Lady Hornets reached the championship game of the[more] Harrison Soccer Tournament with 1-0 wins over Siloam Springs and Russellville on Saturday. In the final, facing the host team, they battled with neither team being able to score until around three minutes was left in the contest. Harrison scored and held on to win the championship.
“Overall, we really struggled scoring,” acknowledged Lady Hornets coach Julie Long. “We possessed the ball the majority of the day and couldn’t ever find a way to get the ball in the back of the net.
“It was good practice for us and really showed us where we’re at and what things we need to key in on before we play Benton this Thursday.”
The Lady Hornets won the opener on PKs in a shootout after regulation ended with a scoreless tie.
“Katie Moore, London Abernathy, Lexie Balisterri, Lyndsay Brazil and Tore Rose were the first up to take PKs,” Long recounted. “They all made it except Tori so we went to the sixth person, Taylor Matthews. She stepped up and finished the game off for us and Siloam’s player missed.”
The match with Russellville went to the shootout as well.
“It was pretty similar,” Long said. “Katie, London, Lexie, Lyndsay and Taylor took the first five. All of them made them except Brazil so Rori Whittaker stepped up to make the very last one and she finished it.”
Of the Harrison game, the coach said, “It wasn’t our best effort of the day or year but the girls still did a lot of things right. We had a letdown on defense and they took advantage of it put one in.
“Harrison is a very good team and fought hard,” Long noted.
“We will be focusing on defense and our attack this week to get ready for Benton and the Northwest Arkansas Tournament next weekend,” she added.
