CONWAY -- The Central Arkansas Bears and Little Rock Trojans opened both the 2018 season and the 2018-19 Governor's I-40 Showdown Friday at the Stephens Complex in Conway, playing to a 1-1 tie after a 110 minutes.
After a relatively slow first 10 minutes that featured a single shot and a corner kick from Little Rock (0-0-1), Central Arkansas (0-0-1) established control over the next 20 minutes, with a pair of shots on goal from senior Camille Bassett and another from sophomore Hadley Dickinson. The Trojans turned on the pressure for the remainder of the half, taking the final three shots of the period and putting two of them on target.
Little Rock needed just three minutes to notch the match's first goal to start the second half. Doro Greulich worked past the Bear back line to force UCA keeper Lauren Mercuri out of the net and then slid a pass to Arola Aparicio, who put it away to put the Trojans up 1-0 in the 49th minute.
Central Arkansas evened things up eight minutes later, as Bassett finished a run through the Trojan defense with a pass across the goal to junior Connie Awuku-Darkoh, who tapped it in for the finish.
On the night, Central Arkansas held a 19-16 shooting edge and a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal, led by Bassett and Dickinson, who each put a pair on target. In goal for the Bears, Mercuri allowed one goal and made three saves.
The draw sees the three points available in the first leg of the 2018-19 Governor's I-40 Showdown split evenly between the Bears and Trojans, with each team taking 1.5.
"It was a great crowd, it was big, it was loud, they got into the game and that makes it so much fun for the players and really the fans themselves," said Central Arkansas head coach Jeremy Bishop of the 452 in attendance on the night.
"And to get the Governor's I-40 Showdown started with such a good game and showcase the competition that they were talking about the other day between these schools, it's a great start to the season and a great start to the Showdown."
Sports on 08/19/2018