RICHMOND, Ky. – The Colonels early offensive pressure was too much for Central Arkansas to overcome, leading EKU to a 3-2 conference win on Sunday afternoon at the EKU Soccer Field.
 
With the win, the Colonels have now earned four points through two ASUN matches and move to 5-2-1 on the season, 1-0-1 in conference play.
 
"We've been talking a lot as a program about the way in which we start and putting ourselves in a position to make games easier over a 90-minute period," said head coach Matt Cosinuke. "I think today was a showing of the highs and the lows in that learning process. We came out, competed, and scored a fluke goal early, doing a great job of putting pressure on them immediately. Credit to Central Arkansas, they competed and just kept on clawing their way back, and that's to be expected in conference. I'm really excited to go into a difficult road swing within the ASUN, it will be an important part of what the story of our season is going to look like."
 
The Colonels gained the advantage in the first 14 seconds off a UCA error, Maddy Lemery sent a cross from the left side that hit the diving hands of UCA's keeper, a defender attempted to clear the ball from the box that hit the heel of one of her fellow teammates and rolled into the net for a 1-0 EKU lead.
 
From the first minute to the 26th minute, EKU would take six shots, three of those were on target by Audrey Anderson and Celia Lopez, saved by the Bears' Keyla Perez.
 
UCA found its equalizing goal in the 26th off a corner kick that found the head of Kelly Van Gundy.
 
The back-and-forth battle continued deep into the first half as both teams desperately tried to give their squad the advantage. EKU found its resolve in the 35th minute as Ali Kirk and Myla Sharpless played the ball down the middle of the field, assisting Kylie Fitzgerald for her second goal of the season from 25 yards out.
 
A little over 10 minutes out of the halftime break, Eastern Kentucky earned a two-goal advantage from the red-hot Lemery, who placed a ball in the right upper-90 firmly out of reach of the new UCA keeper Lenja Kenstel for her team leading third goal.
 
Central Arkansas' Taylor Webb got the Bears back within striking range in the 64th minute, shooting a ball from midfield that glided perfectly over the hands of Lauren Seedlock to set the match at 3-2.
 
Both teams attempted 13 shots in the final 20 minutes of regulation, Central Arkansas was unable to find their answer and the Colonels gained their first ASUN win of the year.
 
EKU ended the match with 25 shots to UCA's seven, the largest differential for the Colonels in 2022. 
 
Lemery, Lopez, Kirk, Fitzgerald, Maia Ransom, and Lucy Ream all set their season-high total in shots against UCA.
 
Eastern Kentucky concludes a five-match home stand that saw the team find a positive result in each contest. The Colonels will hit the road next week for the three-match conference road swing against Bellarmine (9/25), Lipscomb (9/29), and Austin Peay (10/2). 

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