CONWAY, Ark. – Battling for 90 minutes in an intense ASUN matchup at home, the Central Arkansas men's soccer team dueled Stetson to a 1-1 draw Saturday night. It also marked a bit of history for the Bears, as Pietro Fontana scored his tenth goal of the season in the match.
 
The draw moves the Bears to 2-7-3 overall, now 1-2-2 in league games. But the big story of the night was Fontana's goal, as the sophomore reached the double-digit mark. He became the first Bear to score ten goals in a season since Niklas Brodacki in 2019, with Fontana reaching the mark two matches sooner than Brodacki. While it took the Bear legend 14 matches to reach the mark in his 2019 campaign, Fontana has only needed 12 matches to hit the mark.
 
Fontana didn't take long to get his goal either, scoring in the 27^th minute on a scrum in the ox following a corner kick. Possession went back and forth as the first half continued to progress, with neither side getting much in the way of shots. Then, with just a few minutes remaining in the half, Stetson evened things with a score in the 42^nd minute. Jerry Gutierrez took one final shot before the horn, but his attempt went high over the crossbar.
 
Though the Bears outshot the Hatters 6-5 in the first half, it was the visiting team that put more on frame, forcing a pair of saves from Zach Schawl, while the Stetson keeper only saw the one shot on goal that passed him.
 
As the second half started, play started to get a little chippy, resulting in a red card f the Hatters just seven minutes into the frame. But despite being a man down, Stetson never let off the gas pedal, still putting shots on goal with only ten men on the pitch. However, Central Arkansas ramped up the intensity, pushing the ball up the pitch with reckless abandon to try to test the Hatter defense. And while the overall strategy was successful, resulting in seven shots in the second half, the Bears were unable to find the back of the net.
 
Twice after the Bears went up a man, shooters put balls off the frame of the goal, as both Andres Robles and Fontana came inches from giving Central Arkansas the lead. But the end result was the same, a 1-1 draw in an ASUN match. The point on the table keeps the Bears in the sixth spot, maintaining their hope at another shot at an ASUN title.
 
The Bears are back on the field next Saturday, facing Florida Gulf Coast in a road match. Kickoff against the Eagles is set for 6 p.m. CT.