CONWAY, Ark. – With preseason in the rearview mirror, the Central Arkansas women’s soccer team is finally ready to kick off the 2022 season. On the road for the first pair of games, the Bears will start with a trip to Springfield, Mo., to take on the Missouri State Bears. The first kickoff of the season is set for 6 pm at the Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium, with the match being broadcast on ESPN+.
Entering his 11th season as head coach at Central Arkansas, Jeremy Bishop leads a team that claimed an ASUN West title in the squad’s first year in the league. Behind the play of returning defenders Taylor WebbAll-ASUN First-Team Gracie Hair and ASUN All-Freshman Adley Barham, the Bears look to continue making life difficult along the back line; last season, Central Arkansas posted seven clean sheets, including five shutouts against ASUN foes.
Between the posts almost all of last season, Keyla Perez enters her junior year after a solid first year with the Bears. Recording nine wins last season, Perez played a part in all seven shutouts, with solo clean sheets in four of those matches.
On the other half of the pitch, the Bears returned six goal scorers from last season’s team, including seniors Sydney Brough and Abby Gibson, who combined for six goals and three assists a year ago. The Bears boasted the second-best offense in the conference last season, putting home 37 goals in 18 matches.
Along with the strength of the returners, Central Arkansas brings in some impressive new talent. With 11 newcomers to the squad, the new group comes in hungry for competition and playing time, creating an environment conducive to camaraderie and improvement throughout the course of the 2022 season.
Central Arkansas’ first opponent of the year is another squad of Bears, Missouri State. After a 5-7-5 record last year that saw the Bears finish with a 2-4-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference, Missouri State will be led by a pair of preseason All-MVC players in Isabel Burke and Grace O’ Keefe. Burke led the team with 1,542 minutes on the pitch last year, while O’Keefe led the way with 13 points. Five matches last season ended in shutouts, with wins over Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech and Southern Illinois.
Missouri State’s head coach is Kirk Nelson, who takes the reins after eight seasons as associate head coach. Nelson and the Bears racked up 59 wins during his time as associate head coach, with multiple top three finishes in the MVC.
The first touch between the Bears is set for 6 pm in Springfield. Thursday’s match will be broadcast on ESPN+, with live stats available here.