Hornets win a pair
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue 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).
The Bryant Hornets soccer team bounced back from a season-opening loss to Little Rock Hall on March 4, to post wins over Little Rock Parkview and Sheridan but it wasn’t until halftime of the Sheridan match that things started clicking for them.
Hall came from behind to spoil the Hornets opener, 4-2. On Thursday, March 6, they edged an upstart Parkview team, 1-0. On Tuesday, March 11, Bryant shut out Sheridan 5-0 (or was it 6-0)?
The Hornets scored two early goals against Sheridan.
“I thought we were going to get on a roll,” commented head coach Bodie Nance. “For the first 20 minutes, Sheridan barely got across midfield but then we had about a 10 minute lapse there where we let them play some offense. We picked it back up toward the end of the half.”
It was still 2-0, however.
“I decided that we really needed to step it up offensively in the second half,” Nance noted. “We came back and actually scored four goals in the second half. One of them was disallowed because the referee said the ball went through the side of the net.
“I didn’t realize we didn’t get it counted until about five minutes later,” he continued. “It was late in the game, about 10 minutes left. I went and asked about it after the game. I was trying to ask if the player was onsides or not and should the goal count. He said the goal was good but he said another (official) said it went through the side of the net. So, we really had six goals but it was 5-0 on the scoreboard.”
That would make it three each for senior David Shuler and sophomore Blake Taylor. The controversial goal was struck by Taylor.
“Sheridan wasn’t a whole lot better than they were last year, skill-wise,” Nance said of the second-year program. “But they sure played hard.
“Parkview was a lot better than I anticipated,” noted Nance. “I’m think even more than my guys did. Normally, they’ve been kind of the lesser of the Central conference teams. In fact, they’ve been co-ed up until this year. So, we took them a little lightly and they played really well. They had some speed.
“We didn’t have any offensive punch like I hoped we’d have,” Nance added.
Jung Roe had Bryant’s lone goal in the game.
Against Hall, Rhoe scored the first goal of the game.
“We relaxed and less than a minute later Hall tied it,” Nance recalled.
Travis Cockerham put Bryant back on top midway through the first half.
“Then, late, we let them tie it up again,” Nance said.
It was 2-2 at the half then Hall took the lead with two early goals in the second half.
“One came directly on a corner kick that hit the far post on the fly and banked in,” Nance said.
“We played well,” he added. “We dominated early but missed some excellent chances to score. Late, once we were behind, we tried too much individual stuff, pressed too hard and failed to convert the opportunities we had. But overall, we played hard and I was pleased with our game. It’s a shame we didn’t win.”
The Hornets were set to travel to Searcy on Thursday, March 13, before hosting perennial power Little Rock Catholic on Friday.
