BRYANT, Ark. — "I don't think they've lost in two years," noted Bryant Hornets soccer coach Jason Hay. He was referring to the Conway Wampus Cats who made quick work of his team on Thursday, April 9.
Conway pinned a 7-0 loss on the Hornets to keep that streak going. Bryant fell to 6-8 overall and 1-8 in 7A-Central Conference play going into the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament in Jonesboro on Saturday, April 11.
Though the loss was understandable, Hay wasn't too happy with his team's play particularly coming off a pretty good performance in a 2-0 loss to another tough league foe, Russellville, on Tuesday. [more]
"Not to take anything away from Conway, they've got a very good team," he said. "But four of their goals were cheap ones. We made some bad mistakes. Our keeper had a very good game Tuesday but tonight was kind of a bad night for him and our defense. And when you're playing a team that hasn't been beaten in two years, you better not make those mistakes.
"But they're obviously number one for a reason," Hay added. "They pretty much dominated. We couldn't do much on offense. We may have gotten on good shot all night."
Looking ahead, the coach said, "We'll just try to go into this weekend and get some confidence back maybe in the tournament."
Some confidence would no doubt help going into the team's most important week of the season. Tuesday's home match against Cabot on Tuesday, April 14, is pretty much a must-win situation if the Hornets are going to make the State Tournament. They follow up on Thursday at North Little Rock where it would help to duplicate their first over the Charging Wildcats at home on March 17.
"We've got to win Tuesday," Hay emphasized. "We either win and have a chance or, if we lose, we're done."
At Jonesboro, the Hornets will get three games, starting with Bolton, Tenn., at 11:15 a.m. They'll play either Searcy or Nettleton in the second round. On the other side of the bracket are Jonesboro, Sheridan, North Little Rock and Valley View. Early in the season, the Hornets traveled to Paragould and won a tournament, defeating Valley View in the finals.
