Conway – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team returned to action on Sunday afternoon, hosting the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks at the Bill Stephens Soccer Complex. The Bears were unable to put much together in the first half, but turned on the jets in the second half, downing the Warhawks 1-0.

Central Arkansas (2-2) controlled possession in the first half, but was unable to string anything together, heading into the break trailing ULM (2-3) 4-2 in shots.

"Even though we weren't winning in shots in the first half, I feel like we were dictating play," said Central Arkansas head coach Jeremy Bishop after the match. "We had a lot more of the ball, but we were just putting crosses in from 60 yards away and not putting pressure on their back line. We talked about that at half time, about getting in and giving ourselves a better chance to get on the end of a shorter cross, and we did that."

That changed in the second half, as the Bears continued to dominate possession, but started connecting on their crosses, outshooting the Warhawks 13-5 in the second.
Central Arkansas got the game-winner in the 56^th minute, when freshman Kristen Ricks curled a cross into the ULM box, where fellow freshman Ashley Smith volleyed it home, beating Warhawk keeper Julia Idalis Gonzalez in the top-right corner for her first goal of the season.

"It was a great ball in from Kristen," said Bishop of the Bears' goal. "We got to the end line, made ULM have to commit a lot of numbers back, and put a good ball into the box. Ashley put herself in the right spot and made a great finish on it. She does a really good job of that, of just putting herself into the flow of the game and putting herself in a good spot."

On the day, Smith and junior Shelby Wilson each put a pair of shots on goal, while junior Allie Coleman, junior Chele Naudin, and freshman Kelly McLaughlin each added on shot on goal. In goal for the Bears, sophomore Anna Hughes picked up her first shutout of the season, making four saves.

Central Arkansas hits the road for the first game of a two-game road swing on Wednesday, heading to Little Rock to take on the Little Rock Trojans at 7:00 PM.  "I think we'll have a pretty good in-state crowd, so it should be a lot of fun," said Bishop. "I know that they are on the uptick it seems, based on the recruiting that I've seen and they've gotten a new staff in over the past couple of years, so I think that it'll be competitive. We haven't played them in the last few years, so we're looking forward to getting that game going again."