SEATTLE, Wash. – Holding the No. 3 team in the country scoreless for 65 minutes, the Central Arkansas men's soccer team couldn't quite put the final touches on a 2-1 loss to Washington on Monday. After surrendering the lead, the Bears almost pulled off the comeback, putting quite the scare in a national title hopeful.
 
The loss drops Central Arkansas to 0-1-1, but the Northwest trip overall puts a lot of hope into a program that had chances to defeat two NCAA tournament teams in four days. Rubyn Singh Gill punched home the lone goal for the Bears, and the defense stood tall for almost the entirety of the match, less a couple of outlier minutes in the second half.
 
Central Arkansas came out in the first half determined to show that they weren't going to be intimidated by the national ranking of its opponent, playing with just as much intensity and aggression as always. Though the foul count was significantly lower than on Friday, the Bears were up in the jerseys of the Huskies, forcing a lot of action backwards and away from the Washington offense.
 
Defense reigned in the first half, as the teams combined for seven total shots, with only one coming on target, but into the gloves of Zach Schawl. Washington took six corner kicks in the first stanza, but the Central Arkansas defense refused to break, sending all six right back where they came from.
 
The second half started much in the same way as the first, with both teams battling in the middle, but finding no room to score. For 65 minutes, it seemed as though neither side would offer any quarter in an offensive third.
 
All of that changed very suddenly and very rapidly, as Washington tallied the first goal in the waning seconds of the 65^th minute. Before the Bears had a real chance to recollect themselves, the Huskies pounced again, scoring another goal 76 seconds later.
 
Finally regaining their composure, the Bears set out to even things up, scoring 62 seconds after the second Washington goal to cut into the lead. Finding a ball in the box after a long throw in, Gill lasered his shot past the waiting goalkeeper, injecting life back into Central Arkansas.
 
With both teams desperate to change their situations, the intensity ramped up to another level. The play became more physical as each team tried to leverage momentum into another score, whether to tie or extend the lead. Central Arkansas seemed destined to level things, producing crosses and throw ins and set pieces, but it was the Husky defense that refused to bend any further, denying the Bears with everything they had.
 
Eventually, time just wasn't on the side of Central Arkansas, who may have scored if there were just a few more minutes, but Washington held on for the win.
 
The Bears will stay on the road for one more match before playing in front of their own fans, as the team heads to Dallas, Texas to take on SMU on Friday.