CONWAY, Ark. – The ULM Warhawks soccer team dropped Friday's match at Central Arkansas, 4-0.
"Sometimes it's not your night," head coach Keyton Wheelock said.
The Warhawks (2-3-1) allowed 35 shots from UCA with 14 of them being on goal. The Bears (1-4-1) also took 11 corner kicks on the night. A bright spot for ULM was Rian Kasner, a transfer goalkeeper from Southern Utah, who had 11 saves during the game.
UCA jumped out of the gate quickly, taking five shots in the first 10 minutes. Emma Hawkins took a shot 16 minutes in, but it was saved by Kasner. Lauren Hargus turned around to score the Bears' first goal.
UCA took 12 more shots in the first half, but couldn't capitalize and had three of the goals saved by Kasner. ULM went into the half down 1-0.
"Props to Central Arkansas," Wheelock said. "They came out flying and ready to take advantage of mistakes. They played very well and were clinical in finishing."
The Warhawks came out of halftime ready to turn the tide. However, 31 seconds into the half, Emma Hawkins took a penalty kick to give UCA a 2-0 lead.
The Bears took five more shots, with three of them being blocked. Gracie Hair took a shot 12 minutes into the half, but it was saved by Kasner. Connie Awuka-Darkoh took another shot that was also saved before Awuka-Darkoh scored UCA's third goal of the evening.
ULM attempted to move the ball down the field, but the Bears' defense held strong and gave their offense and Hargus another chance to score off of an assist from Hair to give UCA a 4-0 lead.
ULM's only shot of the night came from Annelore Mievis 75 minutes into the game, but it was wide left. UCA attempted four more shots, but Kasner came up big, saving three of them. The Bears held on to win the game, 4-0.
"We can't dwell on this one," Wheelock said. "We must bounce back and quickly. We have three games in the next nine days. Time to buckle down and go back to the drawing board."
The Warhawks will travel to Baton Rouge Wednesday to take on Southern at 6 p.m. before returning to Brown Stadium next Friday to open conference play against Arkansas State.
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