THIBODAUX, La. — Needing a win on the final day of the regular season for a chance to qualify for their first-ever Southland Conference tournament, Central Arkansas came up short and concluded its season with a scoreless tie against Nicholls on Sunday.
The Bears (6-8-4, 2-4-3 SLC) entered the day needing a victory and a Northwestern State loss or tie to earn a berth in the tournament as the sixth and final seed. League champion Southeastern Louisiana defeated Northwestern State 3-0 on Sunday, meaning the Bears were in with a win. Instead, UCA was unable to break through against the Colonels (6-10-2, 0-8-1) despite 22 shots and four on goal.
UCA put three shots on frame in the final six minutes of regulation, but Nicholls goalkeeper Molly Mersereau made a trio of saves to force overtime. Julie Foerster struck first in the 85th minute, Brittany Kemper followed with another shot in the 88th, and Elizabeth Brady had a last-ditch attempt with only four seconds remaining but Mersereau was there for the stop.
In the first overtime period the Bears were held to one shot, which was blocked, and limited the Colonels to three shots. UCA goalkeeper Kelsey Gochnauer made a save on Alex Romanelli's shot in the 98th minute to keep the tie in order and send the game to a second overtime.
UCA came out with two shots early in the second overtime – one each from Abigail Hodgson and Kristin Pollard – but both sailed wide. Pollard's shot in the 103rd minute was the last one recorded by the Bears, who got a corner kick in the 108th minute but were unable to convert it into a chance at a score.
Nicholls' Sam Etherington had a chance to end it in the 107th minute, but Gochnauer came up with her fifth save of the game to keep the game scoreless. The Colonels had one final attempt in the 110th minute, but Keisha Brown's header went left of the net.
Gochnauer finishes the year with two UCA single-season records. She extended her shutout record by picking up her seventh of the season, having eclipsed the old record of five set by Heather Joye in 2006. Gochnauer also breaks the UCA season record for lowest goals against average, finishing at 1.05 to surpass Jillian Weinberg's mark of 1.16 set in 2004.
