Box Score LAFAYETTE, La. – The UALR soccer team fought back from a one-goal deficit to tie its game at Louisiana once, but the Trojans could not get a second equalizer as the Ragin' Cajuns held on for a 2-1 victory at the Cajun Soccer Complex on Friday night.
Fali Garuba got the goal for UALR (9-4-1, 0-4-1 Sun Belt Conference) in the 67th minute, knotting the contest at 1-1. But Louisiana (6-6-2, 1-3-1) stayed composed and scored the game-winning goal with just seven minutes to play.
The Trojans had a couple more opportunities to tie the contest, including a shot by Linnea Kogsta with five seconds left on the clock, but Louisiana's Lindsay Stocks saved all four UALR shots on goal throughout the contest.
The Ragin' Cajuns got their first goal in the 22nd minute off a great counterattack. Garuba had a breakaway opportunity that was knocked away by Stocks late in the 21st minute, and the rebound would eventually come back around for a shot by Rohane that went high over the net. Louisiana responded immediately, launching the goal kick down the field and getting a wide open shot from the left side of the box by Jorgie Smith. Ilkuf could not make the save, and the home team had a 1-0 lead.
With the Ragin' Cajuns controlling most of the play early in the second half, the Trojans struck. Sophomore Mikayla Uyokpeyi got the ball at midfield, and she played a bouncing through ball into Garuba. The freshmen beat out her defender and played the ball into the back of the net over the Louisiana goalie. The goal was Garuba's team-leading eighth of the year. Garuba is the frist player at UALR to record eight goals in a season since Christina Veasley had 12 in 2009.
Louisiana's game-winner came late in the contest again on a counter-attack. The Trojans had a corner kick taken by Lexus VanPelt that wound up being controlled by the Ragin' Cajuns. Tina Sanchez would wind up with the ball on the right side of the penalty box, and she found the left corner of the goal to give the Cajuns' their 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute.
In the final 15 minutes of its last four games, UALR has given up four goals.
Bre Ilkuf played as the Trojans' goalie for the first time in nearly two weeks, and she made three saves on the evening despite taking the loss. Louisiana outshot UALR 13-11 overall and took six shots on goal to the Trojans' four.
UALR gets back to the field on Sunday afternoon when it travels to Monroe, La., for a showdown with the ULM Warhawks.
