Beaumont, Texas –
 
The Central Arkansas women's soccer team entered Friday night's match with the Lamar Cardinals riding a four-match winning streak. Following a short delay due to lightning, that streak would come to a close, as the Bears would fall to the Cardinals 3-0.
 
Originally scheduled for 7:00 PM, the game was delayed due to inclement weather pushing kickoff back 30 minutes. Central Arkansas (6-3-1, 1-1-0 SLC) got off to a flying start, creating chances early on. The Bears would produce a corner in the 4th minute and later see a shot from Connie Awuku-Darkoh flash just wide in the 5th minute. Lamar (5-3-0, 1-0-0 SLC) quickly countered Central Arkansas's chances, producing chances of their own. The Cardinals were inches away from taking a one goal advantage in the 7th minute as a strike from Lucy Ashworth rattled the crossbar.
 
The deadlock would be broken in the 12th minute as Lamar's Rubi Villegas converted a penalty kick, putting the Cardinals up 1-0. It was the Cardinals' first shot on
goal to that point. Central Arkansas would continue to create chances, getting a strike from Gracie Hair that forced Lamar keeper Sandra Nygard to make her first save of the night in the 16th minute. Hadley Dickinson would join the party as her strike in the 23rd minute forced yet another save from Nygard. Despite producing two shots on goal and two corner kicks after conceding, the Bears would concede again in the 28th minute as LU's Ashworth placed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, giving the Cardinals a two goal advantage.

Again Central Arkansas would create more chances after conceding, including a strike from Bria Williams that produced yet another save from Nygard in the 33rd minute. Williams' strike would be the closest the Bears would come to scoring again in the first half, as they headed into halftime down 2-0.
 
The second half saw a similar story as the first, with Dickinson forcing Nygard to make her fourth save of the night in the 54th minute, keeping the score at 2-0. Four minutes later the Bears would create another scoring opportunity but Nygard was equal to the task as she saved Anika Sultan's effort on goal. The Bears saw themselves trailing by three goals in the 62nd minute as Rubi Villegas scored her second goal of the night, this time from point blank range.
 
Despite trailing three goals to none, Central Arkansas continued to fight and create chances. Williams saw another shot hit the target for the Bears in the 65th minute, but
Nygard was able to keep it out. The Bears would finally see one of their many chances on the night hit the back of the net in the 72nd minute as Camille Bassett was able to
score her 5th goal of the season. Bassett's goal would be the closest the Bears would get all night as they ultimately fell to the Cardinals 3-1.
 
It was a story of efficiency on the night, as the Bears outshot the Cardinals 27-10 and had six more shots on target than Lamar posting 10 shots on goal to Lamar's four.
 
Central Arkansas head coach Jeremy Bishop noted this statistic and emphasized how it played a huge role in tonight's result.

"The difference tonight, as it usually is, was scoring efficiency. We had a ton of great scoring chances but didn't convert. Lamar had a few and converted, but we will stay focused and be ready for Sunday."
 
The Bears will travel to Louisiana as they take on McNeese Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM.