Edwardsville, Ill. – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team made its first appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship since 2012 on Wednesday, taking on third-seeded Drake. The Bears had plenty of chances on the day, but were unable to connect on any of them, falling to the Bulldogs 2-0.
"That's a tough way to go out," said UCA head coach Ross Duncan after the match. "Our guys gave everything they had and to not come out with a result is hard."
The sides traded possession early in the first half, with neither side maintaining control for an extended amount of time. Drake (10-4-3) took advantage of the back-and-forth flow in the 18
th minute, when Alex Prusa played a ball forward from his spot at left back. The ball was gathered by Gabe Edel, who made a move to create some space and fired a cross, where a sliding Ben Lemay knocked it in near post from eight yards out.
Central Arkansas (2-15-1) looked to have an answer in the 25
th minute, as sophomore
Pepe San Roman and junior
Alejandro Moquete combined off a corner to feed sophomore
William Woody at the top of the box. Woody slid the ball over to freshman
Chris Holmes at the left edge of the box, who played a beautiful ball to junior
Wes Carson. Carson tried to poke the ball inside the back post and caught Bulldog keeper Darrin MacLead leaning the wrong way, but he made an outstanding correction, sliding his left foot out and knocking the ball wide.
Despite being outshot 8-4 in the half, the Bears were only edged out 3-2 in shots on goal, and dominated possession for long stretches of time following the goal.
"Allowing the first goal put in the position of playing from behind, which made us adjust what we were doing," said Duncan. "We still were able to maintain possession in their end, but they had enough numbers back to limit our chances. That being said, we created enough to get on the board."
In the second half, Central Arkansas had some chances early, as San Roman and Woody both played balls forward to Carson, but neither was able to connect. A Central
Arkansas miscue in the 58
th minute gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Seven Enna stole the ball, and slid it across the Central Arkansas back line to Nic Jaimes, who won the one-on-one and slotted the ball in the top-right, just inside the near post.
The Bears got a solid look from freshman
Joey Kampmann in the 65
th minute, but his shot from distance sailed just wide.
Central Arkansas saw a flurry of chances in around the 73
rd minute, as San Roman sailed one high, and junior
Jordan Bates fired a header towards the near post off of a corner kick from senior
Daylon Schiffel, but McLeod was able to make the save.
Woody joined the action in the 77
th minute, when Moquete fired a free kick off the Drake wall. Woody gathered it and fired a rocket from 25 yards, but McLeod brushed the ball just over the crossbar.
Kampmann looked to connect from distance again in the 87
th minute, but his attempt again sailed wide.
On the day, the Bears put four of their 11 shots on goal, led by Woody, who was on target with both of his attempts. Carson and Bates each added one shot on frame. In goal,
Harrison Veith made six saves.
"This season has been tough, there's no doubt about that," said Duncan. "But we don't have any quit in us. If anything, this just pushes us harder so next year we return a stronger, more experienced, tougher team."
