Box Score
CONWAY — Central Arkansas snapped its three-game losing streak to Stephen F. Austin, but was unable to come away with a victory as the Bears battled the Ladyjacks to a 1-1 tie on Sunday at the Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex.
The Bears (4-5-2, 0-1-1 Southland) had lost the previous three games with SFA and hadn't scored against the Ladyjacks (8-3-1, 1-0-1) since the teams' 2006 meeting – a 1-0 UCA win.
"Obviously we would love to have gotten the win, but getting a tie against maybe the top team in the conference is a great result for us," head coach Tina Banham said. "They've given us some trouble the last few years, so it's nice to play them to a tie and get that point in the conference standings."
SFA took the lead in the 37th minute on a Laura Sadler kick from the right side of the field that sailed just above the hands of UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gochnauer and into the net.
UCA struck back early in the second half, answering with a goal from Kristin Pollard in the 50th minute. Off a reset, Julie Foerster played the ball to Kari Mars who served it to Pollard for the freshman's third goal of the season.
Neither team would score again, though the Ladyjacks had several opportunities as they had 20 shots – including 10 on goal – in the game compared to just two and one for UCA.
Despite the attack, SFA could not convert on any of its chances – even against a shorthanded UCA team.
Late in the second half, Gochnauer – the lone active goalkeeper on the UCA roster with Kirby Huffstickler yet to play this season due to arm injury – was knocked out of the game temporarily following a collision inside the keeper box.
Senior defender Aly Murray was inserted into the game as the UCA keeper in Gochnauer's absence, playing 4:32 without facing a shot. Gochnauer returned with just under four minutes remaining in regulation and finished the game for the Bears, recording the final of her nine saves in the second overtime to preserve the tie.
"I thought we played much harder today and it took a lot of heart and great effort to get it to overtime and keep it a tie," Banham said. "We still didn't play great soccer all around, but we were able to hang in there and defend and keep them from scoring."
The tie comes two days after the Bears lost in the final moments due to an own goal against Sam Houston State in the conference opener.
"Especially with the way Friday's game ended, I thought it was important for us to come away from this one with at least a tie," Banham said. "I think, overall, it was a positive weekend for us. You always hate to lose, but we bounced back and played better today. The first two weekends of conference play, we'll play the top three teams in the league, which I think just prepares us for the rest of the schedule. After today, we've seen just about as good a team as we're going to in the conference. That helps, but there is so much parity in our league that there are no easy games. We just have to keep fighting and try to get some wins and continue to score points in the conference standings and try to meet our goal of going to the conference tournament."
