Conway – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team returned to Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday night, hosting second-place SIUE at the Bill Stephens Complex. Despite playing down a man for just over 95 minutes, the Bears played the Cougars to a scoreless draw in double overtime.

SIUE (7-4-4, 3-1-2 MVC) put heavy pressure on the Bears (5-7-2, 2-3-1 MVC) early, getting four shots in the match's first four minutes. The dynamic of the game changed in the 9^th minute, when junior Blake Stricker and SIUE's Keegan McHugh slid into each other on the Cougar's side of midfield. McHugh was issued a yellow card, but Stricker was ruled to have used excessive force, resulting in a red card and putting the Bears at 10 men for the remainder of the match.

After a long-range attempt from freshman Niklas Brodacki in the 13^th minute, the Bears settled into a defensive formation, conceding the next nine shots to the Cougars. UCA would play off the counter each time, but failed to generate any chances until the 34^th minute, when a free kick from the right side led to dangerous headers from sophomore Daltyn Knutson and senior Jordan Bates, both of which required spectacular saves from Cougar keeper Kyle Dal Santo to keep the Bears off the board.  The Cougars would get a pair of shots from TC Hull late in the half, but freshman Marc Olsen made the save on one and the other went wide to send the match to halftime scoreless.

Central Arkansas got what looked to be its best chance of the match early in the second half, when a foul in the box in the 51^st minute sent senior Wes Carson to the penalty spot. Carson went right up the middle firing a laser that Dal Santo managed to knock wide to keep the match even. SIUE would again make use of the man advantage in the half, dominating possession, but the Bears got another outstanding look in the 82^nd minute, when junior Pepe San Roman fired a cross to Knutson, whose header glance off the post the wrong way to keep the Bears off the score sheet. The Bears and Cougars would trade shots over the final eight minutes, but neither side was able to find the game-winner, sending the match to overtime.

In the first extra period, it was the Bears' turn to sweat it out, as a foul on Knutson was ruled to have occurred in the box, sending Austin Ledbetter to the penalty spot for the Cougars. Ledbetter tried to sneak the ball just under the post in the center of the net, but Olsen was able to push the shot off the cross bar to keep the match at 0-0.

The teams would combine for just two more shots during the remainder of the game to preserve the scoreless draw.

"You never want to play for a point at home," said UCA head coach Ross Duncan following the match. "But I think any coach, in the position we put ourselves in that early in the game, is trying to figure out how to get out with something. The credit goes to the guys that finished the game that strongly. We adjusted our system, and made a change based on what they were doing, and to be down a man for that long, I think we really limited them to just a handful of opportunities. For us to get just the one point is a bit bittersweet, because we had chances, but we're definitely pleased with it."

"The chances are ones that we would have loved to have go in, of course, but SIUE had chances as well," Duncan continued. "They saved a PK, we saved a PK, so I think the soccer gods found justice in the match and everybody got what they deserved."

On the night, the Bears put three shots on goal, getting one each from Carson, Knutson, and Bates, while SIUE was on target with eight shots. In goal, Olsen was huge for the Bears, making eight saves to earn his fifth clean sheet of the season.

"Marc has gotten better every single game this year and with the form that he's in right now it's going to be hard for teams to score on us," said Duncan of his freshman net-minder. "And the center backs in front of him have evolved into a very, very good pair on the season, and that was a really well-earned shutout, probably the most well-earned since I've been the coach here. To battle and organize the guys in front of them in a system that we don't train a lot, being a man down, is really difficult, so I'm proud of the effort we put in, not just in goal or at the center back position, but as a team to earn the shutout."

Central Arkansas hits the road on Saturday, heading to Des Moines, Iowa for a huge MVC match-up with the Drake Bulldogs, who are currently tied for fifth in the league with UCA at seven points. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.

"We're playing to not be in that six-seven game in the tournament," said Duncan. "We want to try to make up as many points as we can, and unfortunately we weren't able to make up any ground tonight, but we're trying to jump up into a three-seed or even a two-seed in the tournament if we can. It's really important that we get a result up at Drake because of the results tonight. They're a team that we've scouted, and it's a quick turnaround, so we've definitely already started watching the film on them. It's a tough place to play, but our boys proved tonight that they can battle."