Conway – The Central Arkansas Bears returned to action on Sunday afternoon in a battle of two of the Southland Conference's three remaining unbeaten teams, hosting the McNeese State Cowgirls at the Bill Stephens Complex. Despite putting seven shots on goal, the Bears were unable to find the back of the net, falling to the Cowgirls 1-0.
McNeese (7-3-1, 3-0-0 SLC) opened the match with a strong run of possession that led to four corner kicks in the first five minutes. During that run, the Cowgirls would fire off five shots, including a dangerous look from Anna Watson the ricocheted off of the cross bar. Central Arkansas (5-6-0, 2-1-0 SLC) would then take over, getting a header from
Maci Schoonover off the crossbar in the seventh minute and a shot on goal from
Autum Schwartz in the ninth that required a sprawling save from Cowgirl keeper Emma Roccaforte. After the Bears got saves from keeper
Lauren Mercuri in the 13th, 19
th, and 26
th minutes, the Bears would next get a shot from Schwartz in the 29
th minute, before
Jordan Slim fired off an attempt that Roccaforte was able to bat wide in the 35
th minute. Central Arkansas would control the ball for the remainder of the first half, with
Dawson Depperschmidt and Schwartz putting shots on goal in the final five minutes, but the teams would head into the break tied at 0-0.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the sides trading runs of possession and putting shots high or wide, before
Camille Bassett got the game's best chance in the 64
th minute. She fired a rocket from six yards that Roccaforte somehow got a hand on, redirecting the ball off the crossbar to keep the match scoreless. The Cowgirls would finally break through in the 81
st minute, when Nikki Schaaf played a ball over the UCA defense and found Havana Johnson in stride. Johnson gathered the ball, took a touch, and then fired, beating Mercuri to put the Cowgirls up 1-0 with her fifth goal of the season.
It looked like Bassett had found the equalizer in the 84
th minute, as she worked her way down the right wing into the McNeese box and fired, but Roccaforte again delivered for the Cowgirls, laying out and slapping the ball wide.
"We didn't create enough good scoring chances in the first half," said UCA head coach Jeremy Bishop. "We did in the second half, but we just didn't put them away. That's what happens when you let a team hang around, when you don't give it your best effort, and when you don't have the best focus during a ninety minute game, it'll bite you in the end every time. We didn't start out well today. I think we were better in the second half, we created a lot of good scoring chances, we just didn't finish. Hopefully we learned that lesson today and we'll play with more focus moving forward."
On the day, McNeese outshot Central Arkansas 17-11, but the Bears held a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal. Bassett and Schwartz each put a pair of shots on target, while Depperschmidt, Slim, and
Stacia Carroll each put one attempt on target. In goal, Mercuri took the loss, making six five saves and allowing one goal.
The Bears hit the road for a pair of matches next weekend, traveling to Abilene, Texas to take on Abilene Christian at 7:00 PM on Friday. Central Arkansas will then head to San Antonio, Texas to face off with the University of the Incarnate Word at 1:00 PM on Sunday.
"It's going to be tough to go on the road and travel that far," said Bishop. "Playing at Abilene, they've been a very competitive team since they've been in the league, so that'll be tough. And Incarnate is not an easy place to play either, because of their setup and their field, and they're improved this year. Looking at it, as far as scores and standings, it looks like the conference is going to be tight this year, so we have to make sure to finish our chances so we can come out on top."
