Teetering on a scoreless game, UCA’s women’s soccer team captured its first conference win deep into the match with a hurdling shot from senior Sydney Brough.
It was a shutout win over Austin Peay Governors with a score of 1-0 on Thursday, Sept. 22.
The goal marked Brough’s first game-winning kick of the season.
“I wasn’t able to score at the start of the season, just in a little slump. But I tried not to worry as I knew that if I kept my head down and kept working it would come,” Brough said. “Helping the team with this goal as our first ASUN win feels pretty good but I couldn’t have done it without the girls around me.”
Freshman forward Tristyn Pavatt assisted Brough, her first assist of the season. Pavatt leads the pack of freshmen with a game-winning goal against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans, an assist against Austin Peay State University and four shots on goal overall.
“It felt really good. I’m thankful for the opportunity I have to play for UCA and the team. I’m glad that we were able to secure the win last night. It’s amazing,” Pavatt said.
Brough acknowledged the freshman’s kick and said it changed the course of the game, “Tristyn is a freshman with a lot of great qualities. She is young and still learning how we play as a team. Her effort last night was what mattered and ultimately changed the game with her assist. She just needs to keep giving her all and she will be an impact player,” Brough said.
Pavatt is the only member of the team from Conway. Having played at Conway High School, a home game for her is truly an at-home game.
“I love being in my hometown and close to my family,” Pavatt said. “Staying close was something that was really important to me and I definitely would not trade it.”
Despite the win, Coach Jeromy Bishop still wants to see his team improve.
“[UCA] played well, at times they played really well. We’ve got to clean up a few things where we can take advantage of what they’re giving us. We were, a little bit, playing into their hands at times, especially in the first half,” Bishop said.
The first half of the game was scoreless, but not without a hardy effort from the Governors who had 14 shots to UCA’s two. Freshman goalkeeper Kajsa Pruner secured five saves against Austin Peay.
The lack of shots from UCA kept Austin Peay’s goalkeeper at one save until the clock ran out.
The Governors seemed to lose their spark after halftime. Austin Peay took six shots in the second, less than half of their initial effort, and let Brough grab the only goal of the game with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Bishop said the team shined in the latter part of the game.
“In the second half, we figured it out and played where we needed to. We were able to create a lot more opportunities because of it. Sydney getting the goal was awesome. It was a great team effort. Both keepers played well on goal. It was great,” Bishop said. “We’re happy to have the win and the time all really contributed to it. It’s just about recovery, [that’s where] a lot of the work is done. It’s just about getting ready to go again in three days.”
The win brought the Bears to 3-5-2 overall and 1-1-1 in ASUN conference. Their next game was against Lipscomb University on Sept. 26. The Bears lost 2-0.