Conway, Ark. -

The Central Arkansas men’s soccer team continued their recent trend of playing quality soccer but coming up just short on Saturday night, falling to Drake 1-0.

The game’s only goal came in the 24^th minute, when Drake’s Michael Thaden lined up at the penalty mark and blasted the ball into the back of the Central Arkansas net for his fourth goal of season.
The Bears (6-4, 0-1 MVC) took 13 shots during the game, placing seven on goal. Seven different Central Arkansas players were on target during the game. The Bulldogs (3-7-3, 1-0-1 MVC) also took 13 shots on Saturday, placing five on frame. Thaden was the only Bulldog to place multiple shots on goal, with two.

Cody Gibson was in net for Central Arkansas Saturday night, making four saves and allowing one goal. “Cody, and our whole back line as well, was really good tonight,” said coach Ross Duncan after the match. “Cody saved two really good chances and came up big when we needed him to. The back was strong as well; they did a good job of limiting Drake to just some long range chances.”

“It was tough,” said Duncan of the loss. “We had some really good chances. We had some very specific things we wanted our guys to change from our last couple games, and they executed great. It’s disappointing because I feel like our guys deserved at lease a point, possibly three, out the game. They believed in what we said, and executed well, and it just didn’t happen for us.

The Bears travel to Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday to face off with the Memphis Tigers. On Saturday, they return to Missouri Valley play, hosting Creighton University. “We’re able to back on the field quickly,” said Duncan of Tuesday’s match. “Hopefully we can get a good result and go into the Creighton game on a high.”