UCA men’s soccer rallies past Oral Roberts for a 2-1 comeback win

Central Arkansas trailed by a goal for more than half the match Friday night before finding two answers in the second half to beat Oral Roberts 2-1 in Conway.

The win pushed UCA to 2-1-1 on the young season and dropped the Golden Eagles to 1-2-2.

Neither team could find much rhythm in the opening stretch.

Both squads spent long minutes battling for the ball near midfield and each defense kept clearing danger before it could turn into a real chance.

Oral Roberts broke through first. Redshirt freshman Chance Anderson headed home a corner kick from Roman Hemphill to put the Golden Eagles ahead in the 28th minute.

UCA didn’t wait long to respond. Just 34 seconds after the goal Garner Wolfe fired a shot that the Oral Roberts keeper scooped up.

Vaclav Kozeny followed with another attempt that sailed just right of the crossbar as the Bears kept pushing.

By the end of the first half UCA looked far more settled offensively.

Early on the team leaned on long balls out of the back, but after falling behind it began stringing together possessions and camping out in Oral Roberts territory.

Second-half surge flips the score

UCA came out of halftime with pace and never really let up.

The Bears controlled most of the second-half possession and finally tied things up when Rico Duggan buried a penalty kick in the 63rd minute.

Six minutes later UCA grabbed the lead for good. Freshman Topias Helle scored his first goal of the season and the first of his college career, with Michael Walenchok picking up the assist.

The Bears’ defense held up its end too. Goalkeeper Merrick Cook made three saves and still hasn’t given up more than one goal in any match this season.

UCA’s back line stayed steady and the midfield helped keep pressure off Cook for most of the night.

Joseph Mwamba and Kaisei Matsudo both stepped up defensively as Oral Roberts pushed to even the score.

Mwamba blocked a shot to slow the Golden Eagles’ attack and Matsudo came away with a clean slide tackle to stop another chance from developing.

Oral Roberts controlled the ball in UCA’s end for most of the final three minutes but couldn’t put together a clean look at goal.

The Bears cleared their zone one last time as the clock ran out to lock up the 2-1 win and stay unbeaten at home.

UCA finished with a 12-6 edge in shots and outcornered the Golden Eagles 6-3 on the night.

The Bears will be back in action Monday at home against Central Baptist College, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. and the match streaming live on ESPN+.