Colorado Springs, Colorado – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team saw its season come to a close on Thursday night after falling to #20 Air Force 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Central Arkansas would control the tempo early in the match, getting solid looks from
Soren Jensen,
Niklas Brodacki, and
Kasper Andersen in the first 15 minutes, before Air Force settled into a spell of possession, firing off four shots and two corner kicks from the 18
th minute to the 28
th. The Falcons would hold that pressure for the remainder of the half, adding four more shots in the final 17 minutes, but the Central Arkansas defense was up to the task, sending the match into the break at nil-nil.
The Bears would get their best look of the match early in the second frame, when a corner from Jensen found
Daltyn Knutson, but his volley was saved by AFA keeper Andrea Seazzu. The flow would shift back to the Falcons after that, as they would fire off three shots in quick succession before Danny Han broke the stalemate in the 55
th minute, collecting a cross from Austin Dewing and rifling it off the outstretched hand of UCA keeper
Marc Olsen to give Air Force a 1-0 lead. Just 65 seconds later, the Falcons would add on, as Han intercepted a pass and played it forward to Klint Parker, who finished to the top-right.
Another corner from Jensen would lead to looks from Andersen and Chris Holmes in the 57
th minute, and Brodacki would fire wide in the 65
th minute, before Air Force was able to take another shot, which Olsen saved. Anderson and Knutston would each try their luck in the 77
th minute, but it would be the Falcons who would find the next goal, as James D'Emido slid a pass through the UCA back line to Tucker Bone, who cooly chipped it over a charging Olsen for a 3-0 lead in the 79
th minute. Central Arkansas would get looks from Brodacki and Knutston in the final 10 minutes, but the only goal would come for the Falcons, on a successful penalty kick from James Sims in the 82
nd minute.
With the loss the Bears finish the season at 8-6-2, making 2018 the first season that Central Arkansas has finished with a winning record at the Division I level . UCA was successful in defending its 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Title, doing itself one better by taking both the MVC Title and the MVC Tournament Title this year, its last in the league.
