ROGERS — Battling high winds and the number one seed in the tournament, the Bryant Hornets soccer team made the defending Class 7A State semifinalist Springdale Bulldogs earn everything they got on Friday morning. But the Bulldogs found a way to advance at the Hornets’ expense, 3-2.
Bryant finishes the season after a 4-0 win in the first round of the tournament, 12-8-3, as Springdale (19-1-1) advances to the semifinals against Fort Smith Northside, a 1-0 victor over Fayetteville on Friday.
“We played hard,” said Hornets coach Richard Friday. “We played against the wind the first half and couldn’t get out of our end. We gave up a goal midway through the first half.”
And it was 1-0 at the half. A second Springdale goal came early in the second half.
“We got one back from a corner and a header by Jhorman Cruz,” Friday related. “We gave up another shortly after that sealed it.”
Jonathan Guerra scored for the Hornets to close the gap.
“We missed a couple of more half chances,” Friday said.
“We worked hard,” he reiterated. “We were just beaten by a better team.”
