CONWAY -- Bryant, the No. 2 seed from the 6A-Central, scored twice in the second half to oust Bentonville, the top seed from the 6A-West, 2-0 Saturday at McConnell Stadium in Conway to advance to the girls state soccer tournament final next week in Fayetteville.
Alyssa Fason scored on a breakaway with 25:36 remaining, then Madison Humbard sealed the game about 13 minutes later, scoring with 12:20 left on a header.
Bryant will face Conway for the state championship. The Lady Wampus Cats defeated the Lady Hornets twice during the season
"In high school, my dad reminded me that a team had beaten us twice, but when we played for the third time we won," Bryant Coach Nicole Inman said.
As the clock ticked down in the first half, the Lady Hornets (17-2) tried to get close for a shot. Ashton Inman's shot from the left side bounced off the post as the half ended scoreless.
In the first 15 minutes of the second half, neither team made a strong attempt at the goal.
Less than five minutes after Bryant's Lauren Heath was sent off with a yellow card, Fason controlled the ball on a break and easily scored for Bryant.
Bentonville (20-4) had two serious shots at goal to get on the board, but both were corralled by Bryant keeper Addison Funk.
"Addison is a very strong player," Inman said. "She has really good hands, but didn't see that many shots today."
Bryant locked up the game with 12:20 left when Heath's free kick sailed toward Humbard, and she headed the ball into the net.
CONWAY 1,
MOUNT ST. MARY 0
Sophomore Hope Chagnon came out of a scrum in front of the goal with 6:21 remaining in the second half to send Conway to next week's Class 6A championship game against Bryant.
Junior forward Kailyn Pavatt of Conway (19-1-1) sent a corner kick toward the goal, but teammates Rebecca Boone and Audrey Joyner, and Mount St. Mary keeper Kaydee Price all converged on the ball in front of the goal, but no one could control it.
Chagnon was in the right place at the right time and came away with the goal.
"We were lucky to be on the right side of things this time," Conway Coach Kevin DeStefano said. "It was incredibly challenging, and the [wet and rainy] conditions played a big part."
Price was injured during the scrum in front of the goal, suffering a slight dislocation of her knee. Coach Stephanie Boccarossa said Price was going to be fine.
The game got a little intense in the final three minutes when Conway boys Coach Matt Page, assisting DeStefano, got a red card for arguing with an official. Yellow cards were issued to one player from each team in the final minutes.
Mount St. Mary ended the season at 12-5-1.
Sports on 05/12/2019