Conway – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team returned to the pitch on Sunday afternoon, continuing their yearly rivalry with the Cardinals of the University of the Incarnate Word. The Bears led the majority of the match, but the Cardinals got a pair of late goals to lock up the win, 2-1.

Junior Wes Carson put the Bears (1-3-0) on the board in the 10^th minute, collecting a pass from sophomore Pepe San Roman in the box and putting it away from five yards out for his third goal of the season.

"We asked the guys to get some shots on frame early, and we did," said Central Arkansas head coach Ross Duncan following the match. "Pepe had a couple of shots, and one deflected to Wes's feet. That's how you score goals in college soccer. You don't score off of 20 pass combinations, you score by peppering a goal and being opportunistic."

The Central Arkansas lead would hold until the 81^st minute, when Noah Keats launched a free kick into the Central Arkansas box, where it found the head of Alex Hoyl, who knocked it home from seven yards out to even the score at 1-1.

Just two minutes later, Incarnate Word (2-1) got the game-winner, when Jonathan Camarena found Keats, who beat Central Arkansas keeper Harrison Veith from eight yards out.

"They brought their center back forward on that first one and we missed an assignment, which we can't allow to happen," said Duncan of the Cardinals' first goal.  

On the day, the Bears put 12 of their 18 shots on goal, led by Carson, who was on target with all three of his attempts. Daltyn Knutson, Joey Kampmann, and San Roman each put a pair of shots on frame, while Niklas Sandquist, Colton Jackson, and Carson Cacciatore each put a single shot on goal.

"We did what we needed to do to win this game," said Duncan. "It came down to some plays at the end of the game, and winning teams can complete those plays. We've got to step forward and make some adjustments to be better there. We had some opportunities to get up two-nothing, or even three-nothing, and couldn't finish, which hurt us because it could have been a nice, easy finish for us."

In net for the Bears, Veith had a career day, making a career-high 11 saves, a mark which is tied for the fourth-most in a single game in school history.

Central Arkansas is off for nearly a week, returning to action on Saturday evening by playing host to UMKC. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM. "We play them every year," said Duncan of the 'Roos. "They've started off strong and look to be a physical, tough, Midwest team. We're going to have to step up our mental game and be a lot stronger than we were today."