NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team couldn't find an all-important equalizer against the Lipscomb Bisons on Sunday, falling 1-0 to suffer its first ASUN loss of the season.
 
Despite falling to 5-6-3 overall, the Bears are still 4-1-1 in league games and remain tied for second place in the conference standings. Just like last season's meeting in the ASUN conference tournament, Lipscomb peppered the Bears with shots, many way off target from long distance, but it ultimately kept the Bears from developing runs of their own in counter attack situations.
 
Lipscomb controlled possession early in the match, maintaining the ball in Central Arkansas' defensive third for most of the opening stanza. When the Bears would corral the ball, quick darts up the field were the primary method on counter attacks. But a stout Bisons defense that hasn't allowed a goal in conference play was able to sniff out long balls and send them back out to midfield before any attacking Central Arkansas players could do much.
 
Ultimately, the Bisons broke through with a 27^th minute PK, converting to open the scoring. Central Arkansas set to work immediately for an answer, but multiple drives ended with Bears hitting the ground inside the 18-yard box and the ball going the other way.  
 
Central Arkansas continued to fight into the second half, with Megan Moudy taking an early shot to try to establish some momentum, but Lipscomb's hold on the midfield proved to be constricting for a Central Arkansas team that was having difficulty finding the long ball. As time wore on, the Bears finally started making headway, throwing numbers into counter attacks and pressing forward as the urgency grew. But even so, the Bears' attacks felt like they were missing one more pass, or one cleaner touch that just never happened.
 
The Bears still control their destiny, despite the loss. With five games remaining on the schedule, only one (Eastern Kentucky) is within striking distance in the standings. Two teams (Bellarmine and Jacksonville) currently won't qualify for the ASUN Championships later this month, and the other two (North Florida and North Alabama) haven't beaten Central Arkansas since joining the ASUN.
 
Central Arkansas is back on the pitch on Thursday, taking on Bellarmine at home before hosting EKU on Sunday.