The Wildcats tied the game twice in Conway, Arkansas, settling for a 2-2 tie in double overtime against Central Arkansas.
ACU is now 6-6-1 overall with a 3-1-1 record in conference, while UCA falls to 5-4-2 with a 1-1-1 Southland record.
The Wildcats fell behind 1-0 in the 24th minute, until Leslie Snider, redshirt freshman midfielder from Wylie, scored her first goal of the season in the 36th minute. The goal came off an assist by senior defender Tiffany Ysassi who got Snider the ball on the run to put the ball into the net.
“When we tied the game up 1-1, we were more comfortable going into half time,” Snider said. “The team was pumped up after this goal, but we could not get another shot in.”
Both teams went into the locker room tied up, neither able to get ahead.
The Bears were able to go back in front in the 75th minute after a mishandled stop by Sydney Newton, sophomore goal keeper from Mansfield, gave the lead back to the visiting Bears. Kelsey Dombrowski, sophomore goal keeper from Fort Worth, who started the game, would come back in to finish the match.
But it would be senior experience that would keep the Wildcats from going home with a loss. Taylor Brown, senior defensive from Southlake, would be the equalizer for ACU three minutes later, as she scored on freshman defender Chantal Kinsey’s pass in the 78th minute to knot things up at 2 late in the game.
“The ball bounced out to Chantal and she received it then sent a through ball in the air,” Brown said. “As I saw it coming, I knew I just had to get something on the ball, so I was able to reach my leg out and strike the ball with the outside of my foot. I honestly did not expect it to be a goal that would tie the game up.”
The game would head into overtime, and then into a second overtime as neither team was able to push a score across. The Wildcats had ample opportunities in extra time, as ACU put five shots on goal compared to one by UCA.
“Coming back twice as a team to tie UCA was actually very exciting,” said Maria Gomez sophomore midfielder from Naples, Florida. “I think it showed that as a team we knew we weren’t going to lose, we were going to keep fighting and not let down. Even after their second late goal, we weren’t going to give up. It showed true team effort, desire and passion to keep pushing through.”
