Box Score

CONWAY — A goal from Ryan Child in the 33rd minute proved to be enough for Eastern Illinois as the Panthers defeated Central Arkansas 1-0 on Wednesday in Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer play.

The Bears (3-8, 0-2 MVC) surrendered the goal, Child's second of the season, off a corner kick from Ian McCausland. Child was able to get a head on McCausland's serve and banged it into the lower left corner of the net for the lone score of the game.

EIU (4-7, 1-2 MVC) kept the Bears from threatening at all in the first half, maintaining possession for much of the period while taking five shots including three on goal and limiting the Bears to none.

Despite sunny skies and little cloud coverage within the visible area, the game was halted two minutes into the second half due to an alert system reporting lightning just more than two miles away.

After the mandatory half hour delay, the teams returned from their shelters and finished out the final 43 minutes without any further scoring. Both teams had several scoring opportunities – UCA took nine second-half shots, EIU six – but none resulted in goals.

Greg Brooks, making his second appearance of the season in relief of injured goalkeeper Ivan Zarate, made four saves for the Bears in the loss. Sean Molony recorded two saves for the Panthers.

The Bears go on the road for their next two – traveling to Bradley and SIU Edwardsville – before returning home on Oct. 23 for their final home contest of the season against No. 11 Creighton.