CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team had a successful Senior Night Thursday evening, taking a 2-1 win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. A pair of early goals, coupled with solid defense late, propel the Bears to an 8-7 record, with a 5-2 ASUN record. Most importantly, the women's soccer team now holds a 3-0 record in the West Division.
 
Prior to kickoff, the Bears took time to celebrate the achievements of their four graduating seniors. The combination of Hadley Dickinson, Morgan Rollow, Anika Sultan and Lily Sultan represent an important part of this program's history, tonight earning their 51st win as a class.
 
"They're tremendous. Every one of those girls has been amongst the hardest workers," Head coach Jeremy Bishop said of his seniors. "They've been consistent and diligent, great grades, they're great teammates. We love them, and we're going to miss them big time next year."
 
Central Arkansas got off to a fast start, notching the first goal of the evening in the eighth minute. Laurel Landry took a ball from Emma Hawkins and fired one past the keeper. The goal is Landry's fifth of the season, putting her in second place on the team in goals scored.
 
The Bears kept right on going, scoring on a solo shot from Hawkins just a few minutes later. Making a dash around a defender and getting the edge, Hawkins lined up and slotted in her league-leading 12^th goal of the season. With three points tonight, she now holds the fourth-most points in a single season in UCA history, and her 76 career points are third all-time at Central Arkansas.
 
Kelly Van Gundy almost added a third goal before 15 minutes had passed, rocketing a shot off the post, but UCA was unable to follow up on the bounce. The Colonels struggled to get much going early in the match, and found themselves on their heels early on in the first half. Even still, EKU outshot the Bears 9-4 in the first stanza, but the shots were largely non-threatening, long shots.
 
EKU finally found a goal in the 37^th minute, lining one up to cut the lead to just one goal. The Colonels would take one more shot before the halftime horn, but it was unsuccessful in tying the match.
 
Entering the second half down one, Eastern Kentucky came out with a purpose, controlling possession and overall playing with an extra gear. Again and again, the Colonel attack smashed into the Bears defense, but time and time again, the Bears repelled. With the intensity ratcheted up, UCA did everything it could to keep the visitors from tying the match, matching the attacks with timely stops.
 
"Credit EKU, they put us under a ton of pressure tonight," Bishop said of the win. "After going up 2-0, we felt like we wanted to change our system to keep them at bay. It worked, but just a great effort tonight, it's always a nice feeling to win on Senior Night."
 
Eventually, the Bears took control of possession again, keeping the ball forward to eliminate any threat from the road team until the final whistle. With the win, the Bears become the first ASUN team to clinch a spot in the 2021 ASUN Championship.
 
Next up for UCA is a road match at Bellarmine. Kickoff against the Knights is Sunday at 12 p.m. in Louisville, Ky.