LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock Central Lady Tigers challenged the Bryant Lady Hornets in the first half and the two teams battled to a scoreless tie by halftime. But the Lady Hornets scored early in the second half and went on to a 2-0 win to keep pace with the league-leading Conway Lady Wampus Cats in the 6A-Central Conference.
The Lady Hornets, now 11-1 overall and 9-1 in league play, have a two-game lead on Mount St. Mary Academy for second with the tiebreaker in their drive to earn a first-round bye in the Class 6A State Tournament.
Conway defeated Cabot on Friday night, 5-0. On Tuesday, Bryant hosts Fort Smith Southside and Conway visits Fort Smith Northside.
Alyssa Fason got the Lady Hornets on the board just a little over two minutes into the second half. Abbie Patton had the assist.
The Lady Hornets added a game-sealing goal at the 10:54 mark when Ashton Inman fed Lauren Heath for a goal to set the final score.
Keeper Addison Funk had six saves and the Lady Hornets had five corner kicks to just one by Central.
“Central came out hard and ready to go,” said Lady Hornets coach Nicole Inman. “It’s hard sometimes to play when you’ve been off a couple of days because of weather.
“But the girls need to decide to work hard all the time,” she continued. “We were able to give some girls more playing time with a couple of injuries. I’m thankful the girls worked hard to get their goals and finish well.
“We’ve got a handful of games left and I hope the girls come out ready to play hard and enjoy the journey,” the coach said. “The seniors are playing teams for the last time ever. I hope this drives them to want to work and do their best, enjoying the moments.”
