HARRISON GIRLS KEPT PLUGGING ALONG FOR TITLE

FAYETTEVILLE — The Harrison Lady Goblins didn’t bring the most athletic team to the Class 5A State Soccer Tournament. They just brought the team with the most perseverance. That perseverance resulted in a 3-1 state title win over Maumelle on Friday at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville’s Razorback Field. “We knew what we had to do to preserve the win,” said veteran Harrison coach Chris Pratt. “Preserving a win is much easier than having to come back and put balls in the net to just tie it. We went with the mindset that we were going to try to stretch them out by playing long balls out of the back after the break.” Harrison had a built a 3-1 lead after first 31 minutes of the first half. “We probably could of done a better job controlling the tempo by possessing more,” said the coach. “But, in the end, it really didn’t matter how we got it done.” Pratt pointed to his team’s defense as the key to the victory. “Our defense did a super job,” he said. “I am very proud of all five backs and the mids and forwards for doing their jobs well. We preach defense first and playing a perfect defensive game. It is tough to be perfect, but we were pretty darn close. When we couldn’t be, Makayla (Campbell) is usually there to clean up our errors.” Campbell is the goalkeeper for the Lady Goblins and only gave up three goals during the state tournament and four goals in the postseason. The Lady Goblins had to overcome an injury to midfielder Josie Rudelis late in the season and during the game. “Not having Josie healthy for a huge part of the game really put us in a bind,” said the coach. “Fortunately, we had some experience in the last game filling in for her. The girls that took her place did a fine job, but losing one of your leaders was noticeable, especially with balls in the air.” At the beginning of the season, Pratt didn’t see his team having this much success after starting with a 2-6-1 record. “I thought that we would be really solid defensively, but struggle to find goals,” started the coach. “We found a way to find goals and really got rolling at the right time. “I am not a big fan of the word ‘can’t,’” continued Pratt. “Most of the time when I hear it, I make a little joke about how the Candians won at the Alamo, not the Cantnadians. We usually get a little chuckle because a couple of players have no idea who fought the Alamo.” Harrison had the “can” attitude and the team found success. “We were a team that finally built chemistry and figured out that we could do great things when we play together,” said Pratt. “I think that the big turning point was when we beat Greenbrier in penalty kicks during the district tournament. That is really late in the year, but that was the point that Coach (Devon) Boswell and I said to each other that we may make a run at this again. The win versus Pulaski Academy confirmed what we believed and gave our team a ton of confidence.” As the Lady Goblins close the book on another championship season, Pratt stated what he liked about his team. “This was not the most talented team that we have ever had, but they had all the makings of a winner,” said the coach. “What I like the most about this team is how much faith they had in their teammates and their coaches. You don’t achieve what we did this year without that. We had so many things that fell into place at the right times that it seems like this was meant to happen. We were a penalty kick, a fingertip save and a couple of hit posts away from losing to Valley View in the semifinals.” Pratt ended his thoughts on the team. “I am very proud of this team.”

HARRISON GIRLS KEPT PLUGGING ALONG FOR TITLE

JEFF BRASEL

Harrison Daily | 5/23/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Harrison Athletics