Central Arkansas women’s soccer draws 1-1 at Abilene Christian

Anna Kathryn Harrell made 13 saves Sunday and still didn’t get a win out of it.

Central Arkansas women’s soccer tied Abilene Christian 1-1 in a UAC match at Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas, after leading for more than 50 minutes.

Nine of the senior goalkeeper’s stops came after halftime, when the Wildcats spent most of the half in her end of the field.

UCA is 4-5-3 overall and 1-1-1 in league play. Abilene Christian is 4-2-5 and 1-0-2.

The tying goal came in the 75th minute. A foul gave the Wildcats a free kick, and Addison Briscoe scored her fifth goal of the year off a Sophia Saludares assist.

The Bears had been clearing the ball all half, but they couldn’t keep it once they did.

Each clearance came right back at them, which left no room to counterattack or even kill some clock.

Wildcats piled up the shots

Abilene Christian finished with 26 shots to 15 and put 14 on goal to seven.

The Wildcats had 10 corner kicks to six.

At halftime it was 11-6 in shots, with an 8-1 gap over the last 20 minutes before the break.

UCA went to the locker room ahead anyway.

Sakiko Manabe scored in the 24th minute, her third goal of the season.

The senior midfielder picked off a pass in the middle of the field, dribbled about 20 yards and shot from about 25 yards away.

The ball went over the goalkeeper and dropped into the upper right corner.

Before that, the Bears had a 3-2 shot lead through 15 minutes, and Ashlyn May had put one on goal.

A rare goal at Elmer Gray Stadium

Goals haven’t come easy for teams visiting Abilene Christian. UCA is only the second in six matches to score on the Wildcats at home this season.

New Mexico State was the other. That goal was a penalty kick in the 65th minute of Abilene Christian’s only home loss.

Nobody else has scored there before halftime or in open play.

The Bears nearly got a second one after the equalizer. Jama Akpanudo shot from the edge of the 18-yard box, but the keeper kept it out.

UCA had most of the ball late and couldn’t do anything with it.

Abilene Christian had one more chance in the final minute, and the defense held.

The Bears stay on the road Thursday at Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Kentucky. The match starts at 3 p.m.