CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas women's soccer team got back in the win column in shutout fashion, blanking UT Martin en route to a 1-0 win Sunday night.
The Bears (2-3-1) got on the board late in the first half, and locked down defensively to carry the rest of the way.
Sakiko Manabe tallied her second goal of the season in the win,
Hanna Hargrave got her second shutout between the posts, and the defense allowed just one shot on goal all evening. The back line of
Emerson Kercher,
Rylee Reisdorph,
Kaylee Vorisek and
Brooke Cross were excellent all night long, making it incredibly tough for UT Martin to push forward for many scoring opportunities.
But the Skyhawks were the ones pressuring the goal early in the match, putting up four shots in the first 15 minutes to keep the Bears defense on its toes. But the Bears got through the threat and countered, putting two shots on goal in the 25
th minute to flip the momentum to the home team.
After some substitutions by both teams, the Bears stayed on the attack, earning a corner kick in the 30
th minute. A great ball was put in play, and in the ensuing chaos in the box,
Megan Moudy got the ball to Manabe, who settled it and punched it home for the score.
Liza Dugan had a shot on goal just a few minutes later, keeping the pressure on and the momentum square in favor of Central Arkansas, and the 1-0 lead carried to halftime.
UT Martin had to get a little desperate in the second half, and a stoppage due to a bank of stadium lights going out helped the Skyhawks regain their footing. Once play resumed, the visitors were able to parlay that into some momentum of their own, but the Central Arkansas defense was up to the task, forcing shots from distance that never really presented much threat. After the Bears got the game back in front of themselves, both sides spent the bulk of the second half driving into the opposing third, only to see the ball cleared back to midfield. As time trickled down, the Skyhawks continued to try to push forward for an equalizer, but the Bears were having none of it, getting one final clearance to finish the job.
Central Arkansas is at home for the next game, hosting Nevada on Thursday, September 10
th at 7 p.m. at the Bill Stephens Track and Soccer Complex.
