Women’s soccer marked its first loss of ASUN Conference play 1-0 against the Lipscomb Bisons, ending the Bears’ five-game no-lose streak.
The Bisons, ranked No. 1 in ASUN Conference and No. 94 in Division 1 ranks, claimed their sixth consecutive win, making their overall record 10-4 and ASUN Conference record 6-0.
Bisons’ coach Kevin O’Brien said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, “Fantastic performance today from start to finish. I thought the girls — they knew what was on the line.”
O’Brien said in the video, posted to @LipscombWSOC, that the teams’ previous meeting with the Bears was still on its mind.
“Obviously UCA’s a phenomenal program, knocked us out of the conference tournament last year; undefeated so far in conference play, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into,” he said.
The Bisons brought a strong offense this time around, outshooting the Bears 27-8 in the Oct. 1 matchup.
In the first half, the Bisons took 15 shots to the Bears’ one. UCA goalkeeper and junior Kajsa Pruner marked a season-high nine saves in this match, with five in the first.
The lone goal of the game was off a penalty kick from Bisons graduate student Kelli Beiler, about 25 minutes into the first.
In the second, the Bears rallied for a more active offense with seven shots to the Bisons’ 12. UCA’s Pruner grabbed four saves in this half.
The match was a team-high for the Bears on fouls, with 13. The Bisons, outpaced the Bears by two, grabbing 15 fouls in the match.
O’Brien said, “It was a battle. Both teams competed valiantly and I thought we managed their special players well and we were able to be able to create a good amount of good opportunities.”
Despite the win, O’Brien said that his team could have scored in a more definitive way.
“Scoring from a penalty isn’t how we want to win every game. In the end, we created enough great chances to test the keeper,” he said.
Following through on chances is a big part of the teams’ plan for their next game against the Stetson Hatters, O’Brien said.
“For me that’s kind of the focus going into our Florida road trip is: ‘Can we capitalize? Can we make the goalkeeper work a little bit more than we did this Sunday?’ but overall, I love the way we battled and competed defensively and I’m really really thankful for the shot creation that we’re getting, we just gotta do a little better finishing.”
The Bears played the Stetson Hatters on Sept. 24, ending in a draw that UCA coach Jeremy Bishop described as “frustrating.”
“I thought there was some stuff that could have been called but wasn’t — interesting decisions — but we just got to keep our composure and keep playing,” Bishop said after the Bears drew to the Hatters.
The loss put the Bears at 5-6-3 overall and 4-1-1 in ASUN Conference. However, the Bears ASUN Conference rank remains unchanged at No. 2.
UCA heads home for its next two games on Oct. 5 and Oct. 8. The Bellarmine Knights will take to Bill Stephens Soccer Complex on Thursday, with a kickoff time of 7 p.m.
Next, the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels will battle the Bears on Sunday for a pink-out game beginning at noon.
Both games are available to stream on ESPN+.