Lady Hornets primed for conference after 5-0 win at Benton
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
BENTON — With their 7A/6A-Central Conference opener against tough rival Little Rock Central looming, the[more] Bryant Lady Hornets could easily have looked past an opponent on Monday night. But then they weren’t playing just any old opponent. They were taking on the Benton Lady Panthers.
They wasted little time getting after their arch-rivals scoring in the opening minutes and rolling to a 5-0 win.
“It’s always fun to play Benton, just because of the rivalry between the two schools,” said Lady Hornets coach Julie Long. “Overall, the girls played well. It was a good finish to our pre-conference games. The girls are now ready to start conference and seem to be in a good place. They are still working hard to get better but they’re ready to start conference now.”
Bryant heads to Central on Thursday with the girls playing at 7 p.m., after JV boys and varsity boys games.
On Monday, the onslaught commenced three minutes in when Rori Whittaker headed in a goal off a corner from Maggie Hart. Shelby Gartrell added a goal when she got out on a breakaway and finished a one-on-one about six minutes in.
Hart assisted on a goal by Katie Moore then Morgan Hawkins found the back of the net off a feed from Fernanda Olvera. The final goal came unassisted by Kaitlin Gaiser from about 20 yards out.
