CONWAY, Ark. – The fourth iteration of the Governor's I-40 Showdown begins on Thursday with the meeting of the institutions' women's soccer teams. Playing in Little Rock tomorrow at 6 p.m., the Bears and Trojans battle with both teams seeking their first win of the year and a chance to earn the first points towards the I-40 Showdown.
 
Winners of the last four meetings between the teams, Central Arkansas (0-3-1) enter the week having played Arkansas State to a tie in its last outing. After giving up an early goal, the Bears responded within minutes, with Kelly Van Gundy on the receiving end of a well-built combination from Trace Pavatt and Megan Moudy. Moudy, a freshman, would go on to score the second goal of the day for the Bears in the 25^th minute, collecting a missed shot from Pavatt and punching it home for her first collegiate goal.
 
Now four matches into the season, the Bears have seen Moudy and Lea Duus Madsen each score their first collegiate goals, while also receiving contributions from Van Gundy, one of the leaders on the squad. The combination of scoring from multiple sources has been a key point for the Bears over the last couple of seasons, making the team able to roll out multiple lineups with multiple capable scorers at any given time.
 
Matches with Little Rock have gone in favor of the Bears the last few seasons, with the last four going in the win column for Central Arkansas. Last season's match was a 3-1 win for the Purple and Gray, and it was a momentous one at that. It marked head coach Jeremy Bishop's 100^th win leading the Bears, cementing his legacy as one of the best head coaches in the program's history. Bishop, already the all-time wins leader at the school, looks to add another win over the Trojans to his ledger. Pavatt and Van Gundy also added goals in last season's match, with Pavatt scoring the game-winner as a freshman, and Van Gundy adding an insurance goal with less than ten minutes remaining in the match.
 
Little Rock (0-1-2) suffered its first loss of the season in its last appearance, falling 8-0 to Oklahoma State on Sunday. Playing in Stillwater in front of almost 800 fans, the scoring started in the 12^th minute and didn't stop until the 74^th minute, with OSU's Hannah Chance logging a hat trick.
 
But the other two matches, the ones that have ended in draws, have both seen goals for the Trojans. A season-opening match at Florida Atlantic finished 2-2, with Candice Kilderry and Colleen Gilliland finding the back of the net. Then, at Oral Roberts, Gilliland again scored in a 1-1 draw.
 
Thursday marks the first home match of the season for Little Rock, where the Trojans finished 3-2-3 last season, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Louisiana Tech and UT Martin. Head coach Kelly Farrell is in the early stages of her second season as head coach, with last season's 5-7-5 record as the final results of year one.
 
The match against the Trojans is set for 6 p.m. at the Coleman Sports Complex in Little Rock. Fans can follow along with the battle on ESPN+ and with live stats online.