(October 16, 2024) Mena, Arkansas - With 5 games remaining on their schedule, the ladies are still fighting for a berth in the Region II Tournament later this month. Their first of five games was Wednesday afternoon against NOC-Enid. Earlier this season, the Bucks and Jets played to a 0-0 draw at Advance Soccer Complex.

 

With the UARM roster stretched to the limits with numbers, the worst case scenario came early in the game when an injury occured. This left the Bucks with just the 11 players remaining to try and see the game out. Enid used their bench to keep rotating players to keep them fresh, and this caused the game to be dominated by Enid with possession and goal chances created as a result. UARM fed on scraps attempting to break quickly from defensive situations. It was from one of these counter attacks that UARM scored the opening goal. A long throw into the Enid penalty area was flicked on by Jasmin Bislev Nielsen (Aabybro, Denmark), and the ball was volleyed out of the air by Lidia Rodriguez Dominguez (Ourense, Spain) from the edge of the penalty box. The ball arrowed into the net off the far post to give the Bucks a 1-0 lead.

 

The lead did not last long as Enid pounced on a miskicked goalkick and played high back high into the Bucks penalty area. The Bucks defenders could not clear the bouncing ball, and after attempting to kick it down field. the ball was spliced off a foot and went straight to an Enid striker in front of the goal who had an open shot to score. 

 

The game followed the same pattern as the opening gambits with Enid dominating the ball, and UARM looking dangerous in transition. Both teams had good opportunities to score, but the game lacked the needed quality infront of goal to make the difference. Enid finally produced a move of high quality combining down the right wing to get behind the Bucks defense, and the resulting cross was pin point in its accuracy finding a striker wide open to score with 1 touch from 6 yards out. Enid held a 2-1 advantage.

 

The goal motivated the Bucks team to try and salvage a point from the game, as they pushed forward with a more attacking style and a higher level of energy. The extra effort paid off when Audrey Jordan (Shreveport, LA) was released down the middle of the field, and she took the ball beyond the last defender to shoot home as she reached the penalty area line.  

 

Enid had one last chance to win the game with a shot from very close to the goal, but the shot sailed over the crossbar. The final whistle went and the Bucks players fell to their knees in exhaustion after playing an almost entire game with just 11 players.

 

Coach Sherry was very proud of his depleted squad. "I am so proud of the ladies for fighting back to get that valuable tie to help in our standings. It was very difficult to play against a tough team with no substitutes, but the ladies put their shoulder to the task and deserved that result. It was great to see everyone working hard and supporting each other throughout the entire game. I just hope we have enough players fit enough to take the field in our next game because this is the nitty gritty end of the season where we need everyone to be available."

 

The ladies play again on Sunday at Connors State College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm in Muskogee, Oklahoma.