Conway – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team returned to the pitch at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex on Saturday night, hosting Missouri Valley Conference rival Bradley. The Braves grabbed a 3-0 lead before the Bears attempted to rally, but came up just short, falling 3-2.

Bradley (7-7-0, 4-0-0 MVC) opened the match's scoring in the ninth minute, when Grant Bell played a ball forward to Joe Morales, who played it across the box to Alex Garcia. Garcia fired a laser back across the box, putting it just inside the back post to put the Braves up 1-0.

The Braves added to their lead in the 21^st minute, as Richard Olson fielded a deflected shot from Central Arkansas (1-12-1, 0-4-0 MVC) keeper Harrison Veith, slamming it home to push the Bradley lead to 2-0.

Bradley would tack on another goal in 40^th minute, when Grant Bell flicked the ball to Frank Bak off of a set piece. Bak slid the ball inside the near post, staking the Braves to
a 3-0 lead.

The Bears responded with just under a minute and a half to play in the first half, when Daltyn Knutson played the ball to Chris Holmes, who slid and knocked the ball home from six yards out to cut the Bradley lead to 3-1 heading into the half.

Central Arkansas turned on the pressure in the second half, taking 15 shots in the half. Holmes struck again in the 65^th minute, firing a rocket that clipped the crossbar and went in to pull the Bears to within a goal.

"Both of Chris' goals to night were big time, and just incredible," said Central Arkansas head coach Ross Duncan of the Conway native. "I would say that Chris is kind of indicative of the team as a whole, where he's come along and improved in every game, and every day in training, and that's where the team is. Today was Chris, Tuesday it's going to be someone else. Guys are stepping up and making big plays, and it's coming."

The Bears continued to press for the equalizer, putting six more shots on goal, but were unable to even the score.

"You know, you never want to shoot yourself in the foot early in the game like that, because you're always chasing from that point forward," said Duncan. "But it was sure fun to watch, because our guys just came to life. What a performance from Chris, that goal right before the half was really important, because it gave us belief and the guys, you could see the light in their eyes at halftime. We came out, and got the goal, and if these games were just a little bit longer, we'd have gotten the third."

On the night, the Bears outshot the Braves 24-5, including a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal. Knutston led the way with four attempts on frame, while Holmes and Wes Carson each put three attempts on goal. Blake Stricker and Jacob Jerles each put one shot on target. In goal, Veith made one save.

The Bears step out of MVC play on Tuesday, travelling to Tulsa, Oklahoma to battle Oral Roberts. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM. "It's a good opportunity for us to continue moving forward," said Duncan. "We're not looking beyond Tuesday by any stretch. The conference games are big, because they help us get into the tournament, but this is an opportunity for us to perform and compete."