In Short…
Loyola suffers its first loss in Missouri Valley play to Central Arkansas, 1-0. Despite the loss, the Ramblers remain in first place and earned a bye into the MVC tournament semifinals. The regular season MVC championship hopes are still alive and depend on a Missouri State win over Central Arkansas when they go head-to-head on November 3.

Coach Jones' Thoughts
"Credit to UCA for coming out fast and getting an early lead. We definitely learned some tough lessons tonight that will help us in the MVC tournament," head coach Neil Jones said. "It's a bittersweet night because despite losing, we secured a top-2 seed, and with it, a bye to the semi final. We must lick our wounds before heading out west to take on a top Washington team."
 
How It Happened
Central Arkansas drew first blood early with a 6^th minute goal that put the Ramblers in an early 1-0 hole. The goal snapped Josh Lagudah's scoreless streak in goal at 498:18, and was the first time since Sept. 29 at Bradley that Loyola didn't net the first goal of the match.
 
Loyola responded with an abundance of pressure, beginning with a two-minute sequence with Tucker Stephenson all over the place. The senior midfielder logged two shots and took two corner kicks, one of which directly led to his second shot that went wide.
 
A free kick in the 21^st minute triggered the first shot on goal for the Maroon and Gold, a header from Grant Stoneman that took a diving save by UCA's Marc Olsen to keep the attempt out of the net. Alec Lasinski and Aidan Megally compiled two more shots late in the half to round out the Ramblers' chances in the opening stanza.
 
The Maroon and Gold directed the offensive attack in the early stages of the second half. Tyler Biggs notched the first shot of the frame in the 63^rd minute off a corner, leading to another corner kick moments later. Grant Stoneman and Lasinski also registered shots before the 70^th minute.
 
Loyola finished the night with 10 shots to UCA's eight, with six different Ramblers recording at least one. In the back-and-forth second half, Billy Hency chipped in a shot attempt in the 82^nd minute to help keep the action in the Bears' end. Stephenson led the Ramblers with three shot attempts, and was credited with the match's final shot on goal in the 88^th minute. Despite the late push, the Ramblers were unable to solve Olsen and the Bears handed LUC its first conference loss of the season.
 
A Look At The Numbers
-Saturday was just the second time this season Loyola out-shot the opponent and lost.
-Tucker Stephenson added three more shots to increase his team lead to 27, with 15 of them coming in conference play.
-Central Arkansas had zero corner kicks, marking the first time this year Loyola prevented its opponent from attempting one (DI only).
-Josh Lagudah finished conference play with a 0.46 goals against average, the lowest since Andrew Chekadanov's 0.36 in 2016.
 
Up Next
Loyola is finished with MVC opponents in the regular season and await their fate for MVC tournament seeding. In the meantime, the Ramblers close the regular season on Thursday (Nov. 1) at Washington. The matchup will be the second ever between the programs.