NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With the season turning over to November, the motto of every game moving forward will be "survive and advance," and the Central Arkansas men's soccer team did just that Saturday night. The Bears defeated No. 4 Queens 1-0 to open their Atlantic Sun Championship, thanks to a Deon Travis goal in the first half.
 
The win improves the Bears' record to 4-8-4 on the year after Travis' second goal of the season sends Central Arkansas to the next round. It also marked the second win over the Royals this season, and maintained a perfect 3-0 record against Queens.
 
Central Arkansas established possession early and often after kickoff; it took less than two minutes for the Bears to take their first shot of the match, just a glimpse of things to come. Tajio James put the first shot on target in the eighth, and the Bears would tally five shots before 11 minutes had passed. Queens would respond with a pair of shots before the 20-minute mark, but Javier Ramirez and the defense were on top of both looks.
 
Shots continued to rain in from Central Arkansas, who would end up with 13 in the first half, but the Queens defense held for a bulk of the first half, bending without breaking through 30 minutes. But Travis changed everything in the 32^nd, putting his head on a corner kick from Sohma Ichikawa and sneaking it past the keeper.
 
Despite Travis being the one to score, the name that kept coming up through the first half was Devonte Richards. Though he ultimately didn't end up putting much on the box score, his impact cannot go without mention. The 6'4 midfielder was all over the field in the first 45 minutes, taking and maintaining possession, making runs up the sideline to serve in crosses, and overall had a massive presence on the field. He put four shots up in the first half, with two on target, and bothered the Queens defense the entire time he spent on the pitch.
 
Queens started to mount a bit of offense in the second half, trading shots with the Bears early in the period. Shortly before the 65^th minute, the Royals would put back-to-back shots on goal, earning a corner kick in between, but Ramirez played a lights out game of his own, making all three saves that he needed to in order to secure the clean sheet.
 
As time carried on, Central Arkansas regained its footing and control of the match, spending the final 20 minutes trying to add an insurance score while keeping possession. Every time Queens tried to move the ball forward, the defensive line would clean it up and send it back to the front. Central Arkansas ended the day with 22 total shots, putting eight on frame. The Bears also dominated in the corner kick category, taking ten to the Royals' two.
 
The Bears now lock in a chance to take on the No. 1 seed Lipscomb on Monday. Kicking off against the reigning champs at 7 p.m., Central Arkansas looks to make it three-straight finals appearances with a win over the Bisons.