Abilene, Texas – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team returned to Southland Conference play on Friday evening, heading to Abilene, Texas to take on the Abilene Christian Wildcats. The Bears grabbed an early lead, but needed a late goal from
Alex Moore to pick up a 2-1 win.
Central Arkansas (6-6-0, 3-1-0 SLC) needed just nine minutes to take the lead, as Moore slid a pass to
Autum Schwartz, who hammered it home from eight yards out to put the Bears up 1-0 with her first goal of the season. The Bears would get another solid look a minute-and-a-half later, but
Camille Bassett's attempt was blocked by a Wildcat (4-7-0, 2-2-0 SLC) defender. The Wildcats would control possession for the remainder of the half, outshooting UCA eight to nothing over the next 25 minutes, culminating in a combination from Isa Sanabria and Christan Arteaga to Megan Baer, who scored from eight yards out to even the match at 1-1.
The Bears would get a shot on goal from Schwartz and wide attempt from Bassett in the first 10 minutes of the second half, before Abilene Christian again took over. The Wildcats would take seven shots from the 56
th to 82
nd minutes while keeping Central Arkansas from taking an attempt, but the Bears would be the team to find a second goal, as Moore chipped a shot over Wildcat keeper Erin Smith to give the Bears a 2-1 edge in the 87
th minute. ACU's Brooke Lenz would fire off a shot on goal with 45 seconds left, but UCA's
Lauren Mercuri would make the save to preserve the win.
The Bears would pick up the win despite being outshot 20 to six on the night, with a 10 to three disadvantage in shots on goal. Schwartz put two of her three attempts on frame, while Moore was on target with her only shot. In goal, Mercuri made nine saves to earn her sixth win of the season.
"That's a great road win," said UCA head coach Jeremy Bishop after the match. "ACU is a very good, hard-working team. After our early goal, we didn't play very well for the rest of the first half, giving them a ton of shots and corner kicks. But we came out in the second half and played pretty well. Neither team was able to create many great scoring chances, but we were able to capitalize on our best chance and that was the difference."
The Bears head to San Antonio, Texas on Sunday, taking on the Incarnate Word Cardinals at 1:00 PM.
