By Aaron Shuttleworth

The saying, "the best offense is a good defense" applies to Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory over the Mount Saint Mary Belles by the Bryant Lady Hornets.

"Our keeper Kaitlyn Miller really stepped up,” said Lady Hornets coach Julie Long. “She had two really big saves — huge saves. She needed that too. She came off of a rough weekend and played phenomenal, and that says a lot about her."

By Aaron Shuttleworth

LITTLE ROCK — It was a hard night for the Bryant Lady Hornets at Little Rock Central on Thursday. Their season has its first blemish.

In the first 11 minutes of the game, two balls got pass the keeper Kaitlyn Miller and the Lady Hornet defense. The first score came in at 35:07 remaining in the half and the second with 29:34. But after that, the girls got in rhythm and started keeping up with their assignments.

By Aaron Shuttleworth

This next week in practice the Bryant Lady Hornets are going to hear the word "finish" a lot. At the end of the soccer game against the Texarkana Lady Razorbacks on Thursday night at Bryant Stadium, the Lady Hornets took 12 shots on the goal and not one went in.

The lone goal of the night came with 33:11 left in the game from Shelby Gartrell.

"She's a worker," said Lady Hornets Coach Julie Long. "But we need to work on our finishing of games, that's our number one focus."

BENTON — The Bryant Lady Hornets scored three quick goals against the undermanned Benton Lady Panthers on Friday night at C.W. Lewis Stadium. Everyone got to play as Bryant cruised to a 3-0 win in its debut under new head coach Julie Long.

“The girls’ effort in the first half was really impressive,” Long said. “They were excited and it was an exciting first half as far as the effort.”

Lexi Balisterri got the Lady Hornets' on the board off an assist by Maggie Hart. Sarenety Gomez added a goal off a direct kick then Lauren Reed scored off a cross from Tarra Hendricks on a corner kick.

The Bryant Lady Hornets soccer team makes its 2010 season debut under new head coach Julie Long on Friday evening at 5 o’clock against the Benton Lady Panthers at C.W. Lewis Stadium.

Long, a native of West Plains, Mo., played soccer at Harding University and coached both the boys and girls teams at Nettleton in 2009.

“I actually walked into what I feel is a very talented team,” she stated Wednesday. “The girls have done nothing but work hard for me. I feel like I can say, ‘Run through a wall,’ and they would say, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ I mean, they’ve worked so hard for me. That’s been the biggest advantage to coaching these girls. I’ve never been able to coach a team that’s been like that, that’s always working hard.

By Rob Patrick

As good as Haley Montgomery is as the point guard for the Bryant Lady Hornets basketball team — and she’s a key ingredient in their 19-3 season so far this year — she’s an even better soccer player.

A two-time all-State selection for the Bryant Lady Hornets soccer team, she’s been a member of one of the most successful club teams around, the Arkansas Soccer Club Cougars, for several years.

And, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, she became the newest member of the University of Central Arkansas women’s soccer team, signing a letter of intent at a ceremony at the Bryant High School gym.

Let us recall how, last fall, the Bryant Stadium surface was in such a condition that, more often than not, the bands couldn’t march, the dance teams couldn’t perform, the JV and B team games, seventh and eighth grade games had to be moved or cancelled. And when the freshman and high school varsity teams played, it was a quagmire that just continued to deteriorate.

A move began to replace the natural grass and mud with an artificial surface, something one school after another in the Hornets’ conference and classification has already done.

On-line registration for the 2010 spring soccer season for the Bryant Soccer Club is underway through Feb. 7 at http://www.bryantsoccer.org/

There will be an on-site registration and Midland Park on Saturday, Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon.

For more information, call 213-KIKK (5455) or email bryantsoccer@sbcglobal.net

Registration is now underway for the Bryant Soccer Association. Register on-line at www.bryantsoccer.org through Feb. 7 and save $5. On-site registration at Midland Soccer Complex will be held Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon.

For more information, visit the web site or call 501-213-5455.

LITTLE ROCK — Along with the announcement that the Class 7A State basketball tournament will be played at Van Buren, the Arkansas Activities Association announced the venues for the State competitions for the spring sports and for the 2010 volleyball season this fall.

Van Buren’s Clair Bates Arena will be the site for the basketball tourney March 2-6 with the finals to be played at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs.