FAYETTEVILLE -- Annalee Rhodes used her head Friday to help deliver Little Rock Christian's first girls soccer state championship in five years.
The senior forward's header in the 75th minute broke a 1-1 tie, and the Lady Warriors held on to beat Pulaski Academy 2-1 to win the Class 5A title at Razorback Field.
Rhodes took sophomore midfielder Jessica Phelps' corner kick and headed it in past Pulaski Academy junior goalie Katherine Wellons to give Little Rock Christian (23-1) its first lead.
"It's something we've been working on the last couple of weeks," Little Rock Christian Coach Beth Lendl said. "That was one of the things she was wanting. It was really cool to see. It was really awesome."
It's the second time this postseason that Rhodes scored on a header. She had a header goal in the Lady Warriors' 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Greene County Tech last Friday.
"I just knew it was coming. I thought I could get a head on it," Rhodes said. "I put all I could into it."
The Lady Bruins had an opportunity to tie the match with 30 seconds remaining, but senior Anna Lants' shot was stopped by Lady Warriors junior goalie Olivia Allen.
Pulaski Academy (16-3-1) got its lone goal from freshman midfielder Emily Leding, but the Lady Bruins couldn't make that stand up.
"We let them back in," Pulaski Academy Coach Chris Owen said. "They're a good team, and they took their chances when they had to. We didn't have enough to win the game."
Pulaski Academy took a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Leding's shot from 18 yards out that slipped past Allen in the 44th minute was the first goal of the match, which was scoreless at halftime.
Little Rock Christian scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute on junior midfielder Lauren Schrader's goal.
Lendl praised Allen's play in the second half. She stopped 13 shots, including five after Leding's goal.
"She's a competitor," Lendl said. "She's a great athlete, a great goalie, and has a lot of heart."
Little Rock Christian won the 5A-West Conference and beat Hot Springs 14-0, Greene County Tech 5-0 and Greenbrier 6-0 to reach the state final. The Lady Warriors, whose only loss was to Mount St. Mary, outscored opponents 27-1 in the postseason.
It's the Little Rock private school's first state title since 2010 and third overall. With only three seniors from this year's team, Lendl said he believes the Lady Warriors can get back to the state final again next year.
"We have a huge class of girls coming up next year," Lendl said. "We hope to have more depth, even more than we have. We're excited."
Rhodes was a freshman on Little Rock Christian's state runner-up team in 2012. Now she leaves the school with a state championship.
"It's incredible," Rhodes said. "This is my last hurrah. I wanted to go out as a senior with the win."
Sports on 05/23/2015