Peoria, Ill. –

The Central Arkansas Bears’ season came to a close on Friday night, as the sixth-seeded Bears fell 2-0 to the second-seeded SIUE Cougars in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The Bears (8-9-1, 1-4-1 MVC) were looking for their second upset of the tournament, but it just wasn’t meant to be. After a first half that ended with the score knotted at 0-0 and saw the teams trade a number of good chances, the flood gates opened up in the second half, with the Cougars (13-6-0, 4-2-0 MVC) outshooting Central Arkansas by a tally of 11-2 and finding the net twice. In the 72^nd minute, Aaron Lantz fielded a pass from Kevin Stoll and ripped it into the Central Arkansas net from ten yards out for the 1-0 lead. Just seven minutes later, Stoll got in on the act himself, putting away a penalty kick following a Central Arkansas yellow card. Following the match, Central Arkansas coach Ross Duncan was disappointed with the result, but proud of the efforts of his players, saying, “The first half was a lot like the first time we played SIUE, with both teams trading chances throughout. We went into halftime tied, and had a good plan for the second half, but we just couldn’t do it. It’s tough to go out like that, but I was really proud of the way our seniors stepped up, both today and all year.”

Central Arkansas took six shots in the first half, but was only able to get off two in the second half, ending the night in a 19-8 hole. SIUE led the Bears 6-2 in shots on goal. Ethan Miller (1-of-3) and Daniel Sampedro (1-of-2) had the Bears’ shots on goal. “Dani had our best chance, getting in on a combination for a one-on-one with the keeper. If he’d gotten that one, I feel like we could have changed the game completely,” said Duncan. “And Ethan, and really all of our seniors, worked really hard today which was great to see. It’s their last game and it was really nice to see them work their tails off like that.” In goal for the Bears, Cody Gibson made three saves, while John Berner made two for the Cougars.

The match was an educational experience for Central Arkansas, who has played only three MVC tournament games after playing in two this season. “We’ve realized how important a one or two seed is,” Duncan said of the tournament’s format, which grants first-round byes to the top two seeds. “If we’re both fresh I think that this game is completely different, so we need to be better throughout conference next season in order to get one of those first round byes.”