LITTLE ROCK — In a season in which the Bryant Lady Hornets went 20-1-1 with the only loss coming in the semifinals of the Class 7A State Tournament, then head coach Julie Long, when listing the accomplishments of the season, included the fact that the Lady Hornets had earned a win over Little Rock Christian.
That’s because, as good as Bryant had been, that hadn’t happened before. In fact, in the 2015 season when the Lady Hornets were on their way to a State championship and a 22-2 record, one of those losses had been to Little Rock Christian.
In a 19-3-1 season in 2013 (their 2014 match was iced out), Little Rock Christian provided the tie.
So, it figured that the 2017 Lady Hornets might have a challenge once again when they visited the Lady Warriors on Thursday evening.
And, indeed, the Lady Hornets wound up suffering their first loss of the season, 2-0.
“WE had several miscues that caused breakdowns in defense,” noted Lady Hornets’ first-year head coach James Paul. “We made a few improvements in the midfield, stringing passes together but failed to carry our positives from the previous game over to tonight.
“It was a gut check for us and we have to respond,” he asserted. “We’re moving closer to finding our identity as a team but tonight was definitely a wake-up call. We’ll take what we learned and work to improve for this weekend in Fort Smith.”
In a junior varsity contest, Little Rock Christian prevailed as well, 4-1. Abby Patton had Bryant’s goal.
The Lady Hornets’ varsity, now 1-1, will travel to Fort Smith for a tournament on Friday.
