ABILENE- Abilene Christian soccer clinched its spot in the Southland Conference postseason tournament Saturday following a 3-2 victory at Central Arkansas. The Wildcats scored three consecutive goals from the 23rd to 49th minutes to overcome an early 1-0 deficit and improve to 10-5-2 overall and 6-3-1 within the league.
The Bears, meanwhile, slipped to 12-8-2 and 3-6-1.
With today's win,
Casey Wilson's teams have won 10+ games the last three seasons and recorded their eighth-straight winning season within the Southland Conference. ACU also has gone to the league's postseason tournament in each of their four years of eligibility, winning it all in 2018 to represent the Southland in the NCAA Championship.
In beating the Bears for the third-straight time, ACU now leads its all-time series vs. UCA, 5-2-2, and this was the second-straight game in which the Wildcats scored three or more goals vs. their Purple and White rivals.
The Wildcats tied the score at 1-1 on
Hannah Gage's first goal of the season in the 23rd minute. The Wildcats' Christina Arteage took the ball down the endline before dropping it into the penalty box, where Gage slipped behind her defender and booted it past UCA goalkeeper Reagan McCombs, who was being screened by another Wildcat attacker.
The Wildcats and Bears were tied at 1-1 going into the break, but the score didn't stay tied long as the visitors scored twice in a span off 66 seconds. A
Natalie Jones penalty kick (her third of the year) gave ACU a 2-1 lead and a few moments later the Wildcats drove back down the field for the game-winner netted by
Brianna Diaz, which was her first of 2020-21.
ACU's third goal was initiated by a midfield pass taken down to the corner of the goal box by Arteaga, who dribbled around a pair of defenders before seeing her shot saved by a crouching McCombs. The Bears GK, however, couldn't hold onto the shot, seeing it roll off her palms and right to the foot of Diaz, who hit the ceiling with ease as McCombs and her defenders were out of position.
The Bears continued to press on offense and got one back in the 75th minute (Emily Wissel-Littman), but from there they missed one shot wide, had another saved by ACU's
Erin Smith and another two blocked by Wildcat defenders.
Smith finished the game with three saves in winning for the 10th time this season.
The Wildcats return to action Friday, April 9 with a 7 p.m. home match vs. Incarnate Word. The Cardinals beat Northwestern State 1-0 Saturday in improving to 6-3-3 overall and 5-2-3 vs. the Southland.
