FAYETTEVILLE -- Hannah Davis does not shy away from her role as the "Mother Hen" on a senior-led Fayetteville girls' soccer team.
Davis, a senior defender and three-year starter, waited patiently for her turn to step into the role as lead voice of the Lady Bulldogs. The role is one she's worked hard for and doesn't take lightly.
Girls State Soccer Tournament
Class 7A
At Har-Ber Wildcat Stadium, Springdale
Thursday
Bryant, Bentonville, Cabot, Fayetteville receive first-round byes
Match 1: W3 Springdale Har-Ber vs. E3 North Little Rock, 10 a.m.
Match 2: E2 Little Rock Central vs. W5 Fort Smith Southside, noon
Match 3: W4 Fort Smith Northside vs. C3 Mount St. Mary, 2 p.m.
Match 4: C2 Conway vs. W6 Rogers Heritage, 4 p.m.
Friday
Match 5: C1 Bryant vs. Winner Match 1, 10 a.m.
Match 6: W2 Bentonville vs. Winner Match 2, noon
Match 7: E1 Cabot vs. Winner Match 3, 2 p.m.
Match 8: W1 Fayetteville vs. Winner Match 4, 4 p.m.
Saturday
Match 9: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 10 a.m.
Match 10: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, noon
Championship
Friday, May 20
at Razorback Field, Fayetteville
Match 11: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10, 10 a.m.
Class 6A
At El Dorado
Thursday
1C Siloam Springs, bye
Match 2: 3S Benton vs. 3E Jonesboro, 10 a.m.
2S El Dorado, bye
Match 4: 2E Mountain Home vs. 5S Lake Hamilton, 10 a.m.
1E Searcy, bye
Match 6: 4S Sheridan vs. 3C Greenwood, 2 p.m.
1S Texarkana Arkansas High, bye
Match 8: 2C Russellville vs. 6S LR Parkview, 2 p.m.
Friday
Match 9: 1C Siloam Springs vs. Winner Match 2, 10 a.m.
Match 10: 2S El Dorado vs. Winner Match 4, 10 a.m.
Match 11: 1E Search vs. Winner Match 6, 2 p.m.
Match 12: 1S Texarkana Arkansas High vs. Winner Match 8, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Match 13: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10, 10 a.m.
Match 14: Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12, 10 a.m.
Saturday, May 21
Championship
At Razorback Field, Fayetteville
Match 15: Winner Match 13 vs. Winner Match 14, 2 p.m.
Class 5A
At Hot Springs
Thursday
Match 1: 1W LR Christian vs. 4C Jacksonville (LH), 10 a.m.
Match 2: 2E Batesville vs. 3S Lakeside (LS), 10 a.m.
Match 3: 1C Pulaski Academy vs. 4W Greenbrier (HS), 2 p.m.
Match 4: 2S Hot Springs vs. 3E Greene Co. Tech (HS), 10 a.m.
Match 5: 1S De Queen vs. 4E Paragould (LH), 2 p.m.
Match 6: 2C Sylvan Hills vs. 3W Maumelle (LS), 2 p.m.
Match 7: 1E Valley View vs. 4S White Hall (FL), 2 p.m.
Match 8: 2W Harrison vs. 3C Beebe (HS), 2 p.m.
Friday
Match 9: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 (LS), 10 a.m.
Match 10: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 (HS), 10 a.m.
Match 11: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6 (HS), 2 p.m.
Match 12: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8 (LS), 2 p.m.
Saturday
Match 13: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 (HS), 10 a.m.
Match 14: Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12 (LS), 10 a.m.
Saturday, May 21
Championship
At Razorback Field, Fayetteville
Match 15: Winner Match 13 vs. Winner Match 14, 10 a.m.
LH — Lake Hamilton Field
LS — Lakeside Field
FL — Fountain Lake Field
Class 4A
At Harrison/Bergman
Thursday
Match 1: 1st 1 Gentry vs. 4th 3 Southside, 9 a.m.
Match 2: 2nd 4 Episcopal vs. 3rd 2 Robinson, 9 a.m.
Match 3: 1st Heber Springs vs. 4th 1 Huntsville, 9 a.m.
Match 4: 2nd 2 Malvern vs. 3rd 4 Stuttgart, 1 p.m.
Match 5: 1st CAC vs. 4th 4 Monticello, 1 p.m.
Match 6: 2nd 3 St. Joseph vs. 3rd 1 Shiloh Christian, 1 p.m.
Match 7: 1st 4 Warren vs. 4th 2 Arkadelphia, 5 p.m.
Match 8: 2nd 1 Dardanelle vs. 3rd 3 Riverview, 5 p.m.
Friday
Match 9: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 10 a.m.
Match 10: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 10 a.m.
Match 11: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 2 p.m.
Match 12: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Match 13: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10, 10 a.m.
Match 14: Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 12, 10 a.m.
Friday, May 20
Championship
At Razorback Field, Fayetteville
Match 15: Winner Match 13 vs. Winner Match 14, 2 p.m.
"I think some of the players will sometimes turn to me for advice and sometimes ask, 'What should I do?' or 'What are we doing here?'" Davis said. "So I feel like sort of the mom of the team, and I really like that. I like that the team looks up to me as someone to go to.
"With this set of girls, that role is real easy because we're all such good friends and it's real easy to talk to all of them."
With eight seniors, Fayetteville has put together one of its finest regular seasons in some time. The high point came last Friday, when a 4-2 penalty kicks victory decided a 2-2 draw in regulation at Bentonville to give the Lady Bulldogs a share of the 7A-West Conference title along with the Lady Tigers.
For Davis and her senior teammates, it marked their first win against Bentonville in their careers.
"Winning conference, we always wanted to do that and beating Bentonville was a big, big deal because we had never done that since I had been here," Davis said. "It's just such a special time because most of these girls I've played with since I was like seven years old. So it's like I'm playing with a bunch of my sisters."
While the win against Bentonville was a big moment, Davis has been a big part of a full season of success for Fayetteville (15-3-1). With the Lady Bulldogs allowing just five goals in 14 conference matches, Davis has been a backbone of one of the top defensive units in the state.
From her defender position, she's also added five goals and two assists.
"We've invested a whole lot of time and work with Hannah and watched her work and grow over the past three years," Fayetteville girls soccer coach Joe Thoma said. "It's been neat to watch all the things come together for her as a senior, and she's really matured as a leader and also as a player.
"She understands the game better, and she understands what it means to be a leader better and all those things mean a lot to our team."
Davis, who has signed with Hendrix, knows her team still has bigger plans with this year's Class 7A state tournament set to begin today at Springdale Har-Ber. The Lady Bulldogs, the No. 1 seed from the 7A-West, receive a first-round bye and will play the Conway-Rogers Heritage winner at 4 p.m. Friday.
"There was a picture of me last year that one of the lucky photographers got of me crying, shaking one of the other girl's hands (in the finals)," Davis said. "My mom has it printed out and everything, and that is a constant reminder you need to keep working hard and keep a good mentality and good focus.
"So if we do get the (state) championship that would be such a great feeling and it would mean all this hard work paid off."
Sports on 05/12/2016