Soccer Hornets bounce back from first loss with tie, win
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).
The Bryant Hornets soccer team earned their first AAAAA-Central Conference victory and improved to 6-1-1 overall with a 2-0 win over the Little Rock Parkview Patriots at Bryant Stadium on Thursday, March 3.
Earlier in the week, the Hornets had battled the defending Class AAAAA State champion Conway Wampus Cats to a 2-2 deadlock.
Lucas Nossaman scored both of Bryant’s goals in the victory.
“It was a very tough game,” stated Hornets head coach Terry Aycock. “We were once again without two starters. I will be glad when the flu leaves town.”
The game was played to a scoreless tie in the first half, though both teams managed a few shots on goal.
The second half was going much the same before Nossaman broke the ice with 12:30 left to play. John Reeves took a shot from the right wing area but it was slightly wide to the backside of the goal. Nossaman came in from the left side and knocked it in.
“Strangely enough Parkview seemed to pick up the pace after that,” Aycock mentioned, “but could not score. David Hollis did an outstanding job at keeper. He stopped a good number of shots for us.”
The game was tense until Nossaman scored his second goal with 55 seconds left to play, sealing the win.
“It looked much like the first goal,” Aycock ralated. “Micheal Brandt put a pass up and into the middle of the six-yard box and Nossaman headed it in.”
In the Conway game on Tuesday, March 1, the Hornets fell behind 2-0 by halftime but rallied to tie.
“It was a very good game,” Aycock said.
In the second half, the Hornets got on the board thanks to penalty kick. Blake Taylor knocked it through to make it 2-1 with 20 minutes left in the game.
“A Conway player was issued a red card for an intentional foul as we went for a score,” Aycock said. “On a red card, the player is out for the rest of the game and the next game. Also his team has to play without a man for the rest of the game.”
Before the game was done, Travis Cockerham scored on a direct kick to tie it up.
Conway got on the board on a bit of a fluke very early in the game.
“One of our players attempted to stop a Conway shot but it went off the wrong side of his foot and into the goal.
“On their second goal, our keeper lost sight of the ball when it passed in front of two of our defenders.”
In a JV contest, the two teams were tied 0-0 at the half. Ten minutes in the second half, Bryant’s Reed Witherspoon broke the deadlock. Conway soon tied it and it appeared that would be the way it would end.
“With less than a minute to go, Conway drives the ball down deep,” Aycock recalled. “Our keeper Shawn Hughes comes out to defend, deflects the shot, and one of Conway’s players kicks the deflection in for the win.”
