NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Central Arkansas women's soccer team travels to Texas for their opening conference match on Friday, Feb. 12. The Bears, who are coming off a 5-2 win over ORU, look to start conference play with a win against rival SFA.

TEAM NEWS
The Bears, who started in a 4-5-1 formation last match, look strong at both ends of the field ahead of the match. With multiple players coming out of the last contest with a strong match rating, Emma Hawkins and Zoe Van de Cloot are two players who look to continue their strong form. Head Coach Jeremy Bishop returns a healthy 11 players from the ORU match and looks to develop a stronger presence from the bench.

FORM GUIDE
The Bears, coming off the 5-2 win over ORU, have won four straight dating back to Oct. 15, outscoring their opponents 11-4. Four different players opened their goal scoring against ORU and look to continue putting the ball in the back of the net. Laurel Landry and Zoe Van de Cloot, are two names seen on the team sheet week in and week out, who scored their first in UCA colors against ORU. Alongside the pair, were the likes of Alyssa Fason and Taylor Lassiter, who both scored late goals in Tulsa to seal the victory.

The Ladyjacks of SFA are coming off a 1-0 loss to UT-Tyler at home last Friday. SFA is winless in their previous three matches, which include two non-conference matches against the Bears.

HEAD TO HEAD
This will be the 13th meeting between the two sides with SFA holding the advantage over the Bears. In a series that was dominated by SFA for six years, the Bears have since turned the tie around and have only lost twice to SFA in the last six meetings. The Bears most recently got the better of the series, in a 2-1 non-conference win in Conway. The last time the sides met in Texas, it finished with a 2-2 draw this past fall.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
A few standout players from the ORU match look to continue their good form. Landry scored and gave an assist last time out. Sydney Brough assisted on two goals in the last match from the wing position. Freshman Emily Wissel-Littmann started her fourth match of the season and played very well against ORU.

HEAR FROM THE COACH
"It's different waiting six months from the start of preseason to start conference play, but we are excited to finally be here. The non-conference part of our season was great, the team has grown and excelled, we are optimistic that will carry over into conference play. We know these matches will be at a higher intensity level and we will have to raise our play to meet that level and continue to have success," Coach Bishop said ahead of the big match.

HEAR FROM THE PLAYERS
"We are looking to come out and show everyone what we have been working so hard for and get the win," said Emma Hawkins.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. in Texas. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.