The last weekend of the regular season has turned out to be the most important one for the Central Arkansas women's soccer team, as a spot in the Southland Conference tournament is at stake for the Bears going into their final two matches.
The Bears (6-7-3, 2-3-2 Southland) will hit the road to take on league co-leader Southeastern Louisiana on Friday at 3 p.m. before traveling to last-place Nicholls for the season finale at 1 p.m. in Thibodaux. It is essentially a win-and-you're-in scenario for the Bears, though UCA might need a little help from SLU or Nicholls.
The Bears currently sit in position for the sixth and final spot in the tournament, but are even in points with Lamar with Northwestern State a point behind and McNeese State two points back. By virtue of their 1-0 win over the Lady Cardinals last weekend, the Bears would own the tiebreaker over Lamar.
To prevent Northwestern State – which also plays SLU and Nicholls this weekend – from overtaking them, the Bears would need to pick up a win and the Lady Demons would have to lose once, or both teams would have to tie both of their games. In the latter scenario, Lamar would have to lose or tie against McNeese for UCA to keep its spot.
Lamar and McNeese have only one game remaining – against each other – meaning only one would have an opportunity to grab the sixth spot were the Bears and Lady Demons to each lose both games this weekend. With a victory, UCA would knock both Lamar and McNeese out of contention for the tournament. In the event of a tie between McNeese and Lamar, UCA would need only a tie to remain ahead of those teams.
UCA still has a chance for the fifth seed as well, though the Bears currently trail both Stephen F. Austin and Texas State in points 13-8. If UCA were to win both its games this weekend and either SFA or Texas State drop both of theirs, the Bears would slide in one point ahead as the fifth seed. The Ladyjacks and Bobcats will square off as well over the final weekend of action, so only one of those teams would be able to suffer two losses.
In order to get two wins, the Bears would first have to knock off the Lady Lions – who currently sit tied with UTSA atop the league standings with a 5-1-1 mark in the league. Southeastern is 12-2-3 overall for the season and is riding a league-best five-game winning streak.
Through seven league contests, the Lady Lions have allowed just three goals – tied for fewest in the conference. They are third in the league with 10 goals scored in conference play. SLU goalkeeper Lacey Bockhaus is second in the league in goals against average (0.42), save percentage (.935) and saves per game (6.14). She leads the league with four shutouts in conference play and eight overall. UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gochnauer is second with six.
The Lady Lions' Karly Dagys (eight) and Kerry McWhirter (seven) are 1-2 in the league in assists and Maiya Cooper is fourth with eight goals.
The Bears are 1-3 all time against the Lady Lions and have never won in Hammond. UCA's lone win came in 2007, a 1-0 win in Conway. Southeastern won last year's meeting 5-0.
The regular season-finale comes Sunday against Nicholls, which has yet to record a win in conference play this season. The Lady Colonels are 6-9-1 overall but 0-7 in league play and have lost nine of their last 11. They have been held to one goal in Southland play (in a 5-1 loss to Sam Houston) and have allowed 23.
UCA has never lost to Nicholls, winning all four meetings – including a 5-0 victory in Conway last season.
