PENSACOLA, Fla. – Central Arkansas men's soccer (7-6-2, 4-2-1 ASUN) came up short in Pensacola, falling to West Florida 1-0.
Early on, the Bears looked comfortable on offense, possessing the ball for much of the first half. Vaclav Kozeny looked to get the Bears on the board early, recording shots in the third and sixth minutes. His attempt in the sixth minute was on target, but the West Florida goalkeeper made the save.
Central Arkansas continued to apply pressure, with Rico Duggan following with a shot in the eighth minute that sailed just wide of the right post. Duggan added another shot on goal in the 20th minute, but the Argonauts goalkeeper was there to make the save. Through the first 25 minutes, Central Arkansas outshot West Florida 7-1, putting three of those attempts on goal.
The Bears added two more shots on goal late in the first half, coming from Mateusz Wojtalik and Michael Walenchok, but the match remained scoreless at the break. Central Arkansas finished the first half outshooting the Argonauts 14-4, including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal.
West Florida came out of halftime looking to put more pressure on the Bears and increase the pace of play. Central Arkansas had an opportunity to take the lead in the 69th minute when Kaisei Matsudo's shot was blocked by a West Florida defender. Kozeny followed with an attempt that sailed just wide of the right post.
West Florida found the back of the net in the 78th minute for the lone goal of the match. Caleb Moss finished a cross from deep in the Central Arkansas third, with Santos Cidade and Pedro Henrique credited with the assists.
As the Bears looked to even the score in the closing minutes, Danny Nava fired a shot from the top of the box, but an Argonauts defender blocked the attempt.
With the result, West Florida moves into second place in the ASUN standings, while Central Arkansas drops to third. The Bears return to Florida on Saturday to face Stetson, which currently sits fourth in the conference standings. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Athletic Training Center in DeLand. The match will stream live on ESPN+, with live statistics available online.
