Other Sports
Central Arkansas soccer falls late in 2-1 road loss to Tulsa
UCA women’s soccer battled Tulsa deep into the second half before a late corner kick sealed a tough road defeat.
Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.
Central Arkansas women’s soccer came up just short on the road Sunday night, dropping a 2-1 decision at Tulsa.
The loss pushed the Bears to 0-2 on the young season.
Sophomore forward Caroline Billings scored the only goal for UCA, and freshman Kayla Hurley picked up the assist on the play.
It wasn’t enough to hold off a late push from the Golden Hurricane.
Tulsa came out swinging early and put six shots on frame within the first 20 minutes.
The Bears answered in the 13th minute when midfielder Sakiko Manabe fired a shot that forced a save from the Tulsa keeper.
From there the UCA defense buckled down and refused to crack. Both teams went to the break locked in a scoreless tie.
Second-half swings decide the outcome
Goalkeeper Hanna Hargrave came up with a couple more stops early in the second half to keep the Bears within striking distance.
Tulsa finally broke through though, turning a cleared UCA corner kick into a 2-on-1 rush that ended in a goal at the 54:28 mark.
UCA didn’t fold. Billings and Hurley kept pressing the Tulsa back line and goalkeeper, hunting for a mistake.
They got one in the 65th minute when a Tulsa clearance lacked enough power, and Billings raced to the loose ball before the keeper could reach it, tapping home the equalizer at 65:32.
The tie didn’t last.
With the clock ticking under three minutes, Tulsa found the go-ahead score off a high looping corner kick at 85:35, and the Bears couldn’t answer in time.
Shots and corners tell the story
Tulsa held a clear edge in the shot column, firing 18 attempts to UCA’s five, and also won the corner-kick battle 12-2.
Hargrave still finished with four saves in a full 90 minutes between the posts.
UCA now turns its attention to a road trip to Jonesboro, where the Bears face Arkansas State next Sunday at 4 p.m.
Key takeaways
- UCA fell 2-1 at Tulsa despite tying the game in the second half on a goal from Billings
- Tulsa outshot the Bears 18-5 and scored the winner on a corner kick with three minutes left
- Central Arkansas heads to Arkansas State next Sunday at 4 p.m. looking for its first win
