CONWAY, Ark. – Sophomore
Caroline Billings had a career day on the pitch as she led the Central Arkansas women's soccer team to a 4-2 victory over Bellarmine on Sunday. The sophomore forward scored early and late to help the Bears stay unbeaten in ASUN play.
Behind a hat trick from Billings, the Bears improved to 6-5-1 on the season and 5-0-1 in conference matches, staying atop the league standings. Billings, who entered the game with one goal already this season, notched the first hat trick by a Bear since 2021, scoring the first goal of the day and the final two for the Bears.
Billings got the scoring going early, punching home her first goal in the seventh minutes off of a great combination from
Anna Kerr and
Nina Mazzola. Kerr and
Brianna Lopez nearly added a quick second score just minutes later, both putting shots on frame. Kerr would have an accurate outing, putting all five of her shots on target, but was unable to find a goal. But her offensive presence was unmistakable, and forced Bellarmine to try to blanket her on the offensive side of the ball.
Defensively, the Bears were lights out in the first half, allowing just four shots from the visitors, none of which were on target. Central Arkansas, who typically uses a three-back formation with
Ava Ronsky,
Addylan Wright and
Gabby Thies, had no problems keeping the Knights from getting close to the goal.
After only one goal in the first half, both offenses came out of the gates in the second half looking to do damage. A free kick taken by Thies fell right into the lap of
Megan Moudy, who finished it to give the Bears a 2-0 lead in the 48
th. An answer from Bellarmine in the 50
th was immediately answered by Central Arkansas, as Moudy and
Sophia Backstrom combined to find Billings for her second goal of the day.
As time continued to tick, and both benches were forced to use more players than typical of an early October match due to the heat, the Knights started pressing up the field. The Bears did a great job of bending without breaking for as long as possible, but finally, Bellarmine tallied a second goal in the 80
th minute, cutting the Central Arkansas lead in half.
But the Bears weren't done. All 11 on the field locked back in, needing just ten minutes to go by to claim the win. What happened instead, was the Bears reclaimed all the momentum, taking the final three shots of the game, one of which was Billings' third goal. A ball got blasted from the Bears' defensive third way up top, and Billings simply outran the defense, dodged the keeper, who had come off of her line as the last defender with a chance, and Billings pushed it home for the hat trick.
Central Arkansas will continue to play at home next week, facing North Florida on Thursday. Kickoff against the Ospreys is set for 7 p.m.
