STATESBORO - Central Arkansas scored three unanswered goals in the second half to pick up a 4-1 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer victory over host Georgia Southern on Saturday evening at Eagle Field in Statesboro.
The Bears (1-2, 1-0 SBC) notched their first win of the season, as well as their first win of the Sun Belt slate, with the victory. Georgia Southern falls to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the Sun Belt. The Eagles return to action this coming weekend, hosting Georgia State at Eagle Field.
Central Arkansas had a pair of shots in a ninth-minute sequence, but Georgia Southern goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson was able to make a pair of saves to keep the match scoreless.
The Bears recorded the first goal of the match in the 26th minute. A corner kick by Soren Jensen went all the way across the box and found the foot of Kyosuke Kubota. Kubota's near-post shot went through the Eagle defense and hit off the left post, then caromed right to Rubyn Gill just two yards in front of the box for the easy tap-in and the early one-goal lead.
The match remained at 1-0 into the break. Central Arkansas had a 5-0 edge in shots at halftime.
Georgia Southern tied the match up in the 54th minute as the Eagles showed some nifty possession inside the box. Adam Davie's short pass to Aldair Cortes in the right side of the box led to a turnaround shot by Cortes, who lofted it inside the far post for his first goal of the season and the 1-1 tie.
It took just three and a half minutes for Central Arkansas to get back on top. A free kick from Soren Jensen was headed by the Eagles across the box, finding a wide open Ole Kjoerholt one-on-one with Blaengsson. Kjoerholt beat Blaengsson left for the go-ahead tally.
The Bears stretched their lead to 3-1 in the 62nd minute with some one-touch passing as Pablo Azcona and Kasper Andersen set up Jensen for an easy finish inside the box.
Jose Gonzalez capped the scoring in the match as he got onto a deflected through ball in the 79th minute that set him up one-on-one with Blaengsson.
Central Arkansas finished the night with a 13-2 edge in shots. Blaengsson made seven saves in net for the Eagles, while Sebastian Thomsson made a single save for the Bears. UCA had a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks and the Bears were whistled for 12 fouls, compared to 10 for the Eagles. Georgia Southern was offsides three times and Central Arkansas was offsides once.
