CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears powered their way to a 2-1 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in a key ASUN Conference matchup Sunday afternoon on "Pink Out Day" at the Bill Stephens Complex.

The win, the Bears' third in its last four matches, solidified their spot in sole possession of second place in the ASUN standings with a 6-1-1 league mark. UCA has three conference games remaining, starting with a road matchup at Jacksonville University on Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Sophomore Trace Pravatt gave the Bears a 1-0 lead with her third goal of the season in the 37th minute. UCA then made it 2-0 with two seconds remaining in the first half when junior Kelly Van Gundy put away a penalty kick for her team-high fifth goal of the season.

"It wasn't our best performance," said UCA head coach Jeremy Bishop, "but we were able to create a couple of really good opportunities. A really nice goal toward the end of the first half, and of course the penalty at the end (of the half). I felt we deserved quite a few of those this year and we finally got one today."  

EKU got on the board in the 79th minute when Paula Herranz scored off a Jami Anderson assist.

UCA goalkeeper Kajsa Pruner, a junior from Varnamo, Sweden, recorded eight saves.

"Kelly continues to do so much for us in the midfield creating opportunities, chasing people down," said Bishop. "She does so much. Trace's goal was excellent, just like we'd talked about. We were even talking about through the run of play, letting them know Kelly is going to get it, she's going to open, you've got to be running. And there it was, and she was able to finish it."

Bishop, sporting a pink shirt and pink headband for Pink Out Day, said it was a true team effort on Sunday.

"I thought they (all) put their heart out there and worked extremely hard all the way to the end," he said. "And I think that's fitting on a day like today when we're thinking about so many people who are affected by breast cancer specifically. And to have a performance today that's not pretty but it gets the job done, I think it is really fitting." 

The Bears finish up the regular season with two road matches this week in Florida and Senior Day at home on Saturday, Oct. 21. The ASUN Tournament begins Oct. 26.