CONWAY, Ark. ? Central Arkansas netted two goals in the game's first eight minutes, then held off a Bradley rally late in the second half to beat the visiting Braves, 2-1, in Bradley's regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Farris Field in Conway, Ark.

For just the first time since an Oct. 22 match at Drake, the Braves fell behind in the first half. Just 5:29 into the contest, Central Arkansas freshman midfielder Jordan Prescott collected a loose ball off a deflection in the Bradley defense to put a shot past Bradley freshman goalkeeper Kyle Orne (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista H.S.) for a 1-0 lead. The goal was Prescott's team-high third of the season.

A little more than two minutes later, the Bears added to their lead with a goal in the eighth minute. A pass from midfielder Michael Moritz found its way to Ricky Garcia in the box, as Garcia took advantage of a one-on-one situation with Orne to put a shot past the Bradley keeper for a 2-0 lead. The score remained 2-0 until halftime. Despite the deficit at the break, the Braves held a 6-5 advantage in shots and a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The Braves continued to put pressure on the Bears in the second half and finally broke through in the 82nd minute on freshman Bryan Gaul's (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.) fourth goal of the season, trimming Bradley's deficit to 2-1. Sophomore Packy Amundsen (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap H.S.) assisted on the play to record his first points of the season. With just 8:21 remaining after Gaul's tally, the Braves were unable to find the tying goal before time expired.

Bradley did not allow a single shot attempt from the Bears in the second half and finished the match with a 14-5 advantage. Bradley attempted four more corner kicks in the second half for a match-total of seven. Central Arkansas earned only two corner kick attempts.

Orne made two saves in the defeat for the Braves, running his season total to 12 after making starts in goal in each of the last three contests. Central Arkansas freshman keeper Greg Brooks made four saves to earn his third victory of the campaign.

The victory for Central Arkansas is its first in three tries against the Braves after Bradley won the first two meetings in the series at Shea Stadium in 2006 and 2007. Bradley falls to 6-11-1 to finish the regular season, while Central Arkansas improves to 3-13-1 with one contest remaining on its schedule.

The Braves will now turn their attention to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Soccer Championship beginning Wednesday, Nov. 12 in Evansville, Ind. The Braves are locked into the fifth seed in the tournament and will play in the tournament's opening match on Wednesday against either Drake or tournament host Evansville at 5 p.m.