BRYANT, Ark. — There's an unwritten rule among officials of all sports that says, "late in a close game, let the players determine the outcome." And, under the best of circumstances, that's admirable. Unfortunately, there are times when those officials are so intent on adhering to that unwritten rule, they stop enforcing the written ones.
On Thursday, April 9, the Bryant Lady Hornets were scrambling to get a tying goal against the 7A-Central Conference's unbeaten first-place team, the Conway Lady Cats. The final minutes were ticking away and, in the midst of the action a Bryant player was knocked down. There was no call as the frantic play continued in front of the Conway goal.
Time ran out. Conway survived, 2-1, and the Lady Hornets absorbed another gut-wrenching conference loss, their third by one goal, the most recent one prior to Thursday had been on Tuesday, April 7, when Bryant's comeback from a 3-0 deficit fell short in a 3-2 loss to Russellville.
Though the Lady Hornets dropped to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in league play, they've had a chance to win all but one of those conference losses.[more]
For the record, Lady Hornets head coach Doug Maxwell wouldn't comment on the lack of a call late in the contest but his frustration was apparent.
"We played well tonight," he asserted. "I thought we controlled the second half, total time of possession."
Conway took a 1-0 lead in the first half and the lead held until, with about seven minutes left, Bryant's Sarah Manning got a shot to go, tying it. "An indirect kick from 40 yards out and she beats the keeper back post," Maxwell described. "That gives us a chance. But we turn around and let one slip down the left-hand side, beats a midfielder defender then my keeper near-side post. It was a heartbreaking one."
The go-ahead coach occurred with less than five minutes to play.
"The first half goal was kind of a fluke one," Maxwell recounted. "The sweeper's going back, we've got possession of the ball and just a missed communication with her and keeper and they both left the ball. The forward runs right past them and puts the ball in. If we did the same thing 70 more times, it probably doesn't happen again.
"The second half, we had several scoring opportunities," he continued. "We just couldn't quite find it. A couple of set pieces, we had peeled layers running down there and just miss-hit the ball. One glanced off the upper cross bar, a couple more a player, two inches more I think and get to the ball and just missed it."
Conway took nine shots, Bryant 11.
"We've known we can play with anybody," Maxwell commented. "Conway's got one loss all season but we played them well, a lot better than the first time at their place. So, I'm really pleased with the effort we gave especially coming off of a hard one with Russellville."
Against Russellville, the game was scoreless at the half. In rapid succession, the Lady Cyclones scored three goals to take the lead.
"We really controlled the game," Maxwell related. "Probably 70 percent of the possession was on our side. We had a little breakdown for about a three-and-a-half minute stretch and they got those three goals on us. We got a little complacent. I think we had been dominating so well that we had some players that just didn't mark back and they get all three just off of us not being aggressive, not doing what we've been doing the rest of the game."
The Lady Hornets rallied with two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game. Amber Moskow had a goal off an assist by Lauren Reed. Erica Selig got the second goal.
"We had three or four near misses there," noted the coach. "We hit the crossbar with one. We had one ball that bounces off the keeper and stops on the end line and just sits there. I mean, it was a great shot from a long ways. We were probably 30 yards out and shot. It glances off the keeper, hits the post and stops on the line. The keeper was almost 10 yards out when she touched it. And she was on the ground. She was crawling back and we were trying to get to it and the defender finally gets there and knocks it out. It still bounces around a couple more times. It went like that. We beat them in shots, time of possession — everything but the score.
"These one-goal losses are . . . I mean, we're in every one of them. We're competing against the best teams in the State so I'm optimistic about our chances at State but, for the girls, I just wish we could get one of these to just kind of take a load off of them. They've been working so hard and we're so close. It gets frustrating."
Bryant travels to Jonesboro for the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament on Saturday, April 11. They'll open against Marion at 10 a.m. In the second round, they'll face either Searcy or Valley View. On the other side of the bracket will be Jonesboro, Jonesboro Westside, North Little Rock and Nettleton. The Lady Hornets resume play in the 7A-Central Conference at home against Cabot on Tuesday, April 14, then at North Little Rock on Thursday, April 16.
