CONWAY, Ark. – Soccer doesn't usually provide buzzer beaters, but Anna Kerr came just about as close as possible Thursday night, scoring in the final minute to overtake Florida Gulf Coast. It marked the first win over the Eagles in program history, and kept the Bears perfect in ASUN play.
 
Exploding through the finish line, Kerr's game-winner improves the Bears to 4-5-2 on the year, with a 3-0 run in conference. The winning streak to open conference is also the first 3-0 start in ASUN matches in program history, keeping the Bears atop the table. Trace Pavatt opened the scoring with her first goal of the season, and Kelly Van Gundy logged assists on both goals, setting a new career-best with the pair of helpers.
 
Pushing forward early, Van Gundy was aggressive from the onset, taking a sixth-minute shot that cleared the crossbar, but sent a message that the heat was coming. FGCU responded a few minutes later, hitting a shot that Kajsa Pruner stayed in front of and handled cleanly. The match remained physical in the midfield, with bodies being tossed about and plenty of earth being touched.
 
The Eagles were the primary handlers of the ball through the first 45, pressuring the Bear defense and testing Pruner. But the Bears were simply unintimidated, pushing back and seeking an opportunity to counter. Though it wouldn't come in the first half, the Bears were still able to get off three shots, all three from Van Gundy. The Flower Mound, Texas native never let off the gas pedal, fighting end to end for nearly the entire match, only being subbed out after exhausting every ounce of wind in her lungs.
 
Even at the break, the score showed zeros after 45, despite the Eagles outshooting the Bears 7-3. But after some halftime adjustments, Van Gundy made her mark. Moving the ball forward on a goal kick, Nina Mazzola got the ball to the next man up the pitch, and the junior midfielder lofted the ball forward, giving Trace Pavatt a chance to run onto it and take advantage of her speed advantage. Following a bad touch back, Pavatt intercepted it and pushed it past the keeper to open the scoring, just 150 seconds into the new half.
 
Momentum seized by the Bears, the match did what typically happens after the lead changes: the heat got turned up for both sides, as the Eagles sought the all-important equalizer and the Bears tried to add to their lead. FGCU took two shots in the next minute, but couldn't find the net. Mazzola let loose for an insurance goal, but her attempt stayed wide of the net.
 
Both teams went into a bit of a drought on offense through the middle of the second half, as the 60^th minute passed without another shot. Possession stayed largely in the midfield, both teams trying to scrap and claw for any type of advantage. Finally, FGCU broke through with a peppering of shots over the next seven minutes, equalizing in the 67^th minute.
 
Everything was up for grabs at that point, with 20 minutes left for anybody to become the hero. But the Bears' defense, who had just given up its first goal in 250 minutes of game play, locked back down, tightening up and all but guaranteeing that one was all the Eagles would get. FGCU would be awarded two corners and a free kick, but only get one off-target shot the rest of the match.
 
Repelling all of what FGCU could muster, the Bears mounted one final push in the final minute. A team effort of taking back possession in the defensive third left the ball at Van Gundy's feet and 30 yards of space to take. After drawing the defense in, she sent the long ball forward, dropping it in the perfect spot to make the Eagle keeper make a tough decision: come out for it and potentially end the game with a clearance, or stay back and let the sprinting Kerr collect it and wait for a game-changing save. Opting to go for it, the keeper didn't quite get enough of the ball to send it away, resulting in Kerr with the ball and an open net. Sending it in with some fire, the junior forward secured her first game-winner of the year with a no-doubter to the back of the net with only 33 seconds on the clock.
 
As the Bears watched the clock tick to zero, the bench cleared to go smother Kerr, the jubilation written a mile long across the faces of the home team. The win avenged last season's loss to the Eagles in the semifinals of the ASUN Championship, and gave the Bears the tie-breaker on a team that is sure to be near the top of the league come the postseason. Kerr also notched her second goal against the Eagles, having scored one of the two goals in last season's semifinal match.
 
Central Arkansas gets to ride the emotion and momentum of this win at home again for its next match, playing again on Sunday against Stetson at 12 p.m.