CLASS 7A GIRLS SOCCER
ROGERS 3, BRYANT 2, OT
Senior Skylurr Patrick scored three goals — including the game-winner on a breakaway with 1:43 left in overtime — and earned MVP honors as the Lady Mounties defeated the Lady Hornets.
FAYETTEVILLE — Skylurr Patrick looked for people to celebrate with after she scored the winning goal to give Rogers a 3-2 overtime victory over Bryant for the Class 7A girls state soccer title Friday at Razorback Field.
The senior took a pass from teammate Haley Arrick and broke away to score with 1:43 left in overtime, then sprinted to celebrate with Lady Mounties’ fans in the stands, high-fiving them along the sideline before being mobbed by her teammates.
Patrick, a Purdue signee, scored all three of Rogers’ goals — all coming in the second half — to earn MVP honors.
She said the team got together at the end of regulation and refocused, despite the fact Bryant rallied to tie the match 1-1 and then again 2-2 to force overtime.
“We came this far and we weren’t gonna give up now,” Patrick said. “We put in 80 minutes of just sweat, tears. Our legs are giving up on us, and we finished strong. We knew we could do it coming into overtime, so just fought harder.
“I’m up top. They gave me those beautiful balls. They never gave up, and I couldn’t do anything without my team.”
Rogers Coach Aaron Crouch said Patrick delivered on the big stage.
“Today she came up bigtime,” Crouch said. “She really left it all out on the field being her final game of her senior year. In the second half, when the sun’s higher it becomes a battle of wills and who can keep going.
“I just told them going into overtime, ‘You’re gonna tell this story for the rest of your life. What story do you want to tell? You don’t want to regret knowing that you could have given more.’ ”
Bryant Coach Nicole Inman said Patrick was the key in an even match.
“I think we produced more opportunities, and you know that number three, Skylurr. She was good at getting in there and just finding the end of a ball, and sometimes we were a little slower on the transition on those moments so that cost us the goals they got.”
Patrick broke a scoreless tie with 23:55 left in the second half on an assist from Ashlyn Babbitt, but freshman Ashton Iman of Bryant countered two minutes later to tie it 1-1.
Patrick curled the ball in from the far left side from 30 yards out to give Rogers, the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West, (19-5-1) a 2-1 advantage. But Bryant (17-6) again responded with the equalizer by Jessica Butler with 10:23 left in regulation.
Rogers goalkeeper Mackenzie Brace had nine saves, including two on breakaways. However, the sophomore acknowledged she was thinking of her mistake to allow Bryant’s second goal during the break before overtime.
“Honestly, I was upset with myself,” Brace said. “The second one shouldn’t have been a goal. I was kinda down, but the whole team picked me up. We all worked so hard for this, and I wasn’t going to let it get to me.”
“Brace’s miscue can for sure be overlooked,” Crouch said. “She made a mistake on that second goal, but … she saved us like six times.”