Conway – The Central Arkansas Bears opened the home portion of their schedule on Friday evening, playing host to the Missouri State Bears at the Bill Stephens Complex. After finding themselves down early, the purple Bears were unable to find the equalizer, falling 1-0 to MSU.

Central Arkansas (1-2) controlled the pace early, getting solid chances from Camille Bassett, Maci Schoonover, and Jessica Pantuso in the first nine minutes of the match.
Missouri State would strike first though, as Mary Disidore collected a clearance from Central Arkansas and put it away to the back post from 22 yards out to give the maroon Bears the 1-0 lead. Central Arkansas would generate chances for the equalizer over the remainder of the half, getting shots on goal from Hadley Dickinson and Jordan Slim, but
would go into the break trailing.

Dickenson nearly got the purple Bears on the board early in the second half, but MSU keeper Kaitlin Maxwell made the save, and Bassett added two dangerous chances in the first five minutes of the second half, but Central Arkansas again came up empty. With the clock winding down, UCA saw one of its best chances of the day, but Ashley Smith's header went just wide.

On the day, Central Arkansas put seven of its 13 shots on goal, led by Bassett, Dickinson, and Dayna Mounie, who were each on target with two shots. Slim had the final shot on goal for the Bears. In net, Anna Hughes allowed one goal and made one save, while Lauren Mercuri made five saves.

Central Arkansas returns to action on Sunday afternoon, traveling to Starkville, Mississippi to battle Mississippi State. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM.