CONWAY, Ark. – Playing for more than just a score Tuesday night, the Central Arkansas men's soccer team joined hands with Oral Roberts at midfield prior to kickoff in honor of Eugene Quaynor, a member of the Golden Eagles that passed away late last week. Once play started, the teams played to a 2-2 draw, with the Bears making a late-game comeback to even the score.
 
The draw moves Central Arkansas to 4-4-2 on the year, and marks just the second time a game has ended with an even score in the last two seasons.
 
Oral Roberts shot out of the gates to open the scoring, breaking down the defense and finishing the opening goal in the fourth minute, emotionally celebrating the first goal without Quaynor and honoring his memory. The Golden Eagles continued to be the aggressors, outshooting the Bears 4-1 in the first 15 minutes and change.
 
Once the Bears settled in, the defense locked up, allowing just two more shots from the visitors the rest of the half. The only issue being, Central Arkansas struggled to counter with much offense of its own. Also taking just two shots the rest of the first half, the defenses owned their respective thirds, with nary an opportunity presenting itself as the minutes ticked down to the end of the period.
 
Just as in the first, ORU started the second half with immense pressure, earning a free kick just outside the box in the opening minutes. Playing in a dangerous ball, the Bears were caught on the bad end of an unfortunate bounce, allowing an own goal to fall back two scores.
 
Undeterred, Central Arkansas continued pressing forward, forcing the Golden Eagles into tough shots to give the offense a chance to cut into the lead. The Bears finally broke through in the 72^nd minute, scoring a goal to narrow the gap to a single score. Taking a free kick deep in enemy territory, the ball found the feet of Jonathan Randall, who shuffled it over to Mathias Bendiksen. Creating some space, Bendiksen shot across the face of the goal, moving the ball over a defender's foot and curling it in off the post.
 
The score breathed new energy into the Bears, who were motivated anew to find an equalizer. Driving up the field quickly, another free kick was taken from about 35 yards away from the net. Lofting a ball in, Bendiksen served a pass in on a silver platter to a waiting Richy Lapointe-Guevara, who finished the job with a tap into the right side of the goal in the 77th.
 
Now in a stalemate again for the first time since the fourth minute, the sides battled it out for the final 13 minutes. After falling behind early, the Bears outshot the Golden Eagles 10-5 in the second half, on a mission to get themselves back into it.
 
Central Arkansas returns to the pitch on Saturday, making the trip to Charlotte, N.C. to take on the newest member of the ASUN, Queens. Kickoff in the Carolina is set for 5 p.m. CT.