The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans wrap up the I-40 Showdown match against UCA by scoring two goals in the final minutes of the game.

On Sept. 5 at the Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex, the UCA’s women’s soccer team (0-5) and the Trojans(1-4-1) went head-to-head in a slow, scoreless match until the 88th minute. 

With another loss at the beginning of the season, women’s head soccer coach Jeremy Bishop said he felt “disappointed.”

“We played a good game. I thought we had the better of it for 88 minutes. We couldn’t get the ball in the net and then they did at the end,” Bishop said. “I felt like we did what we needed to do to win the game except for get the ball in the net.”

According to UCA Athletics, “Kelly Van Gundy nearly got the scoring started in the sixth minute, missing a shot wide by about a foot.”

The game consisted of attempts from Central Arkansas to score with junior midfielder Brianna Lopez, senior forward Anna Kerr and sophomore midfielder Megan Moudy testing their luck.

Each attempt was unsuccessful.

Central Arkansas played aggressively with two yellow cards given to sophomore forward Caroline Billings and Kerr. 

As Central Arkansas began to accept the draw, the Trojans came back and scored in the last minutes. 

Trojan junior midfielder Serenity Thake said to LRtrogans.com, “It’s nice to be the one who put it in the back of the net, but it wouldn’t have happened without the team’s effort tonight. I’m so proud of the way this team fights until the very end.”

Shortly after Thake scored, senior forward Abbie Smith sent the ball into the net past UCA’s senior goalkeeper Kajsa Pruner, leaving the game in their hands.

Jeremy Bishop said UCA  “played a different system,” which will impact its future games. 

“I think we learned that that gives us some more opportunities going forward, which is good. We learned more about personnel, which is obviously an ongoing thing. We keep doing that day in and day out. Practice after practice, game after game,” Bishop said. 

“We are always a well-organized team,” he said. “Players know where they’re supposed to be, so we’ll keep doing that. Just gotta make a few more plays.”

Bishop said senior defender Adley Barham, junior forward Nina Mazzola, Kerr, Lopez and freshman forward Kayla Hurley played well during the match. 

“I thought Ady had a great game in the back. I thought Nina was really good at getting the game going from one side to the other. Anna was dangerous on the frontline,” Bishop said. “Bri Lopez played a lot more minutes tonight than she has and did a really good job of holding that play and finding connections. Kayla Hurley did a good job of being dangerous, getting after people. We had a lot of contributors that did a lot of good things tonight.”

After a downcast debrief, the Bears left the field defeated, walking away in silence.