CONWAY, Ark. - The Central Arkansas Bears hosted the Eagles of Central Methodist on Friday, March 5. The Bears ran away with the match, on their way to a 4-0 win. Central Methodist hadn't lost a match in over two years and is the reigning NAIA National Champion.


FIRST HALF - QUICK START & BEAUTIFUL STRIKES

The Bears started at a rapid pace, catching the back-to-back NAIA National Champions off guard when Rowan Laufer played a ball down the right-wing to Alexsi Morel. Morel took the ball inside his defender and hit the ball with his left boot into the bottom corner in the second minute. The Eagles fought back and forced Zach Schawl to make multiple great saves in the 14th and 15th minutes, including a fingertip save while falling backward.

In the 37th minute, Alberto Suarez took a forearm to the chest right outside the 18-yard box and the Bears earned a free-kick from the foul. Suarez would step up to take the free-kick himself and hit a low hard-driving shot to the goalkeeper's left. The ball bounced off the post and into the opposite corner, making it impossible for the goalkeeper to make a save.

SECOND HALF - PENALTY KICKS AND CHIP SHOTS

The Bears started strong in the second half, putting pressure on the Eagles. Edoardo Calzola played a ball down the left wing to Alexsi Morel who went around one defender. Morel was then brought down by CMU's center back, the official awarded a penalty kick in the 52nd minute. Both the center back and the Eagle's coach were shown a yellow card. Alberto Suarez stepped up to take the penalty and converted it by slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. 

Just nine minutes later, Edoardo Calzola carried the ball down the left flank, picked his head up, and saw the goalkeeper out of position. Calzola sent a high lofty ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to extend the Bears lead to 4-0.

HEAR FROM THE COACH

"This was a very good step forward for us in a lot of ways. We were up against a very strong team and were up for the challenge. We started the match well and were able to apply pressure to them all game long. They gave us a lot of problems to deal with and tested us more than we've been tested so far. That's a very good team and I'm proud of the performance we put out. Now the challenge is to replicate that in our next match," said Coach Ross Duncan after the strong result.

HEAR FROM THE PLAYERS

"Great performance from the whole team. We knew it was going to be a physical and tough game against a team that has not lost in over two years, and we came out flying. We had some outstanding individual performances from some of the players that helped us finally convert out chances in attack and keep a clean sheet," said captain Alberto Suarez, who scored two goals and kept a clean sheet in defense.

The Bears travel to Tulsa, Okla. to take on ORU on March 10.