Bryant girls stay near top
So much about this Bryant season is not like the last.
Yes, the Lady Hornets’ 9-1-2 record indicates they’re right in the mix to defend their 2019 Class 6A state title. And yes, there are 12 seniors on this team that were a part of that championship run.
But that season was two years ago, well before the notion of a pandemic was something most even considered.
And it was with their coach, Nicole Inman, who died Dec. 5 after a multiyear bout with brain cancer.
Inman, in the span of two seasons, lifted the Bryant program. The Lady Hornets lost to Rogers in the 2018 title game before beating Conway the next year.
Last summer, when it became clear Inman wasn’t going to be able to stay on for another campaign, firstyear teacher Olivia Allard — who’d spent the covid-shortened 2020 season as an assistant — was named Bryant’s interim coach.
“Stepping into that role, for someone who’s done so much for Arkansas soccer, that’s hard,” said Allard, who later became Bryant’s permanent coach. “But it’s even harder when two of your seniors are her kids.”
Allard could replace Inman as coach. Although she’s just 24, Allard played for a successful Rogers program before playing collegiately as a defender at the University of the Ozarks.
She was never going to replace Inman as mom to Abbey and Ashton Inman, two of the Lady Hornets’ senior stars.
“I told the other girls, ‘Look, this is going to be hard for them. I can only imagine how hard it is for y’all,’ ” Allard said. “With me being here for a whole season, it helped [Abbey and Ashton] just be soccer players.
“Their coach had died, their mom had died, but they knew that I was going to take care of what their mom built and they didn’t have to be the lone advocate for it.”
Bryant is 6-1-1 in 6A-Central play with wins in six of its last seven games.
The Lady Hornets have given up just three goals all season, anchored by the senior tandem of defender Abbey Inman and goalie Addison Funk.
Their steady play at the back, combined with an offense that’s scoring 2.6 goals per game, has alleviated some of Allard’s early nerves.
“The seniors have done a great job pulling in the younger girls and loving on them, and I think that’s really given us the ability to create something special,” Allard said.