CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday before hosting Abilene Christian, and the Bears finished off the day with a 1-1 draw against the ACU Wildcats.
The Bears (7-6-4, 4-2-2 UAC) scored early against one of the best defenses in the UAC, but then couldn't find a second goal, nor an answer in the second half when the Wildcats evened the match.
Liza Dugan finished off the score for the Bears, scoring her third goal of the season.
The day started with the team honoring the eight seniors in the class,
Blair Barnett,
Caroline Billings,
Hanna Hargrave,
Anna Kathryn Harrell,
Emerson Kercher,
Sakiko Manabe,
Megan Moudy and
Brityn Pavatt. Once the emotions of the celebrations were done, the Bears went right to work. It didn't take long after kickoff for lightning to strike, as
Jama Akpanudo found Dugan crashing into the box, and the freshman finished the deal to give Central Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
Central Arkansas continued to pressure the ACU defense, but after a while, the Wildcats were able to reset and battle the Bears out of their defensive third. Then for much of the first half, the ball was bounced around in the midfield as the Bears looked to add separation, and ACU sought an equalizer.
After halftime, it was ACU's turn to strike quickly. Just a few minutes into the second half, a corner kick was bounced around and kept in a dangerous place, and the Wildcats were able to reset and find a score, knotting the game at 1-1. ACU the took all the momentum, continuing to possess the ball in a dangerous part of the field, threatening to quickly take the lead. The Wildcats seemingly scored again shortly thereafter, but offsides was called, negating the score.
ACU continued to press forward, but the Central Arkansas defense held firm, repelling and rejecting all comers as the clock continued to tick down. The Bears had one more chance late, sending a through ball for Akpanudo, inarguably the fastest player on the pitch, but the ball didn't find her feet, and the game ended in a draw.
Central Arkansas is done with home games, but has two road games left in the regular season. Up next, the Bears are at Little Rock next Thursday.
