Lady Hornets boot Benton for 8th win
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).
BENTON — “It’s always nice to beat Benton,” declared Bryant Lady Hornets soccer coach Drew Bunten after his team had posted a 6-1 win over their rivals Tuesday evening.
The Lady Hornets improved to 8-3 on the season with the victory, the second against their Saline County rivals this year.
Ashley Mantooth had two goals and four other Lady Hornets scored in the victory.
“The game was closer than the score, especially in the first half,” Bunten said. “Benton’s got a good team.”
Laura Bunten provided the game’s first goal for Bryant then Amber Wells scored. Later, Laura Bunten assisted on both of Mantooth’s goals.
“Laura was in the corner and back-passed to Ashley at about the corner of the 18-yard marker and she kicked it in from there,” Coach Bunten said. “Later, Laura back-passed to Ashley again and she kicked it in from 20 feet out. Two long, strong goals.”
The Lady Hornets led 4-1 at the half then shut the Lady Panthers out in the second half.
“I was pleased with the play of Brooke Sutton, a ninth grader on the team,” Coach Bunten mentioned. “She scored off a cross pass from Amber. And Katie Powell put one in for us.”
On Friday, the Lady Hornets had gained some revenge with a home win, 4-1, over Searcy, a team that had pinned a 2-1 loss on Bryant earlier in the season in Searcy.
Thursday, however, the Lady Hornets had run into a tough team in Conway and suffered just their third loss of the season, 3-1.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Coach Bunten recalled. “Conway’s tough. They’ve been around for awhile.”
