Bryant’s best shot enough against Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE — The first state championship for Bryant girls’ soccer program didn’t come without a fight.
Bryant and Fayetteville battled through a scoreless match for more than 75 minutes Saturday before Hadley Dickinson scored the only goal the Lady Hornets needed in a 1-0 victory in the Class 7A girls soccer state championship game at Razorback Field.
Bryant took advantage of its best opportunity of the day when Dickinson, a sophomore midfielder, broke clear on an assist from Anna Lowery and scored from 10 yards out with 4:36 left in the second half.
“We had some chances early, and we knew if we just kept doing what we were doing our chances would come,” said Bryant Coach Julie Long, whose team was making its second consecutive appearance in the championship game after finishing runner-up to Bentonville last season. “Hadley obviously stepped up huge.
“They all stepped up, and it was a great team effort.”
Fayetteville (16-7-1), the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West Conference, lost to Bryant twice during the regular season, at a tournament in Fort Smith and in a neutral site match played in Russellville. The Lady Bulldogs kept the match close with a strong defensive effort Saturday, but the late push by the Lady Hornets proved to be enough.
“We had a couple of chances if we make the right pass,” said Fayetteville Coach Joe Thoma, whose team was making its first championship game appearance since 2010. “I thought in the first half it took us a while to get settled.
“Bryant was here last year, and I thought that showed. Even though we have good senior leadership, just being here the first time, it took a while to get that nervous feeling out of them. After we got that out of them, we played fine, but you’ve got to score a goal to win.”
Bryant senior goal keeper Maddie Hawkins — who was named the most outstanding player of the championship game — was a key player in the Lady Hornets’ 2-1 victory over Bentonville in the semifinals and came up big again against Fayetteville.
Fayetteville had a few good looks in the second half, and perhaps its best opportunity at a goal came in the final minutes after Bryant had taken the lead, but Hawkins turned back every Fayetteville threat for the Lady Hornets (22-2), the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central Conference.
“This means a lot to this program and to the alumni before this group,” Long said. “It’s all about the girls. This is huge. It’s for all the alumni and all the girls who have come through this program.
“I felt like last year kind of paved the way for us believing we could do it, and now it’s the first time it’s happened at Bryant. I believe this is just going to open up more doors for us.”