(August 25, 2023) Mena, Arkansas - After a 3-2 loss last Thursday to Blinn College, the Bucks returned to the field Tapley Park for their last regular season matchup to prepare for region play on Sunday Tishomingo against Murray State. The Bucks took on the Mountain View Lions this morning. Last season, the Bucks and Lions drew in a scrimmage in Dallas, TX.
Despite an early kick off, the heat was very intense at the start of the game. It had an effect on the players as the game became very 'stop-start' with both teams giving up possession easily. The game kicked into life when in the 35th minute Tristen Miller (Norman, AR) had a shot from 25 yards which came off the crossbar. It sparked the UARM players in to action and the resulting pressure led to a free kick outside the penalty area. Mohamed Sadiki (Casablanca, Morocco) took the free kick and his swerving shot found the top corner of the goal to help UARM into a 1-0 lead. The game started to become a very physical battle with many fouls taking place everywhere on the field. There was no pattern to the game and as the heat on and off the field was starting to rise the half time break was a welcoming event.
The second half did not start very well for UARM and they were caught sleeping defending a corner kick. Despite many attempts to clear the corner kick the ball fell to the feet of a Mountain View striker, who finished easily from 6 yards. UARM players refocused and pushed for the win and took control of the second half creating many scoring opportunities, but did not quite have the competitive edge to put those chances away. Despite the dominance UARM had Ryan Conquest (Watford, United Kingdom) to thank when he made a last second tackle to deny Mountain View going 2-1 ahead late in the game.
Coach Sherry was upbeat about his teams efforts in the match. "I was happy to see our players keep their heads when the game was turning into a very aggressive competition. It was good to see the UARM players keep to the game plan and not be distracted by what was going on around them. We picked up a few injuries and we hope we can patch them up in time for Sunday's game."
#DefendTheMountain