CONWAY, Ark. (November 7, 2026) – The University of North Alabama soccer team travels to the United Athletic Conference's first-ever Women's Soccer Championship in Conway, Ark. this upcoming week for a matchup against tournament hosts Central Arkansas in the first round.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Bill Stephens Soccer Complex. 

If the Lions advance, they will face UAC Red Division No. 1 Abilene Christian on Wednesday in the semifinals.

Live stats will be available at RoarLions.com via StatBroadcast. The game will be broadcast and streamed via ESPN+.

MATCHUP
North Alabama at #3 Central Arkansas
Sunday, November 8
1 p.m.
Conway, Arkansas – Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex
LIVE STATS | ESPN+ | CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE

NOTES
ABOUT LAST GAME: The UNA women's soccer team earned its first win at Bank Independent Stadium over conference foe West Georgia 3-0 to close the regular season Sunday afternoon. Head coach Chris Walker earned his 112th win at North Alabama, surpassing Graham Winkworth for most wins all-time by a head coach through the program's 30-year history. The Lions had 20 shots on goal against the Wolves, with Catherine Schniederhahn, Carolyn Federle and Charlotte Sobotka each claiming a goal in the monumental win. This victory solidified the team's second-place finish in the Blue Division, which set the Lions up against Central Arkansas on Sunday.

SERIES HISTORY: This is the 16th all-time meeting between North Alabama and Central Arkansas dating back to 1998. A familiar foe from the Gulf South Conference, the Lions have a 6-8-1 record when battling the Bears. Since the start of the Division I era, UNA has a 2-4-1 record against UCA with both wins coming in 2025. Earlier this season, the Lions fell 2-0 to the Bears in Conway.

SCOUTING THE BEARS: Central Arkansas enters the conference tournament as the third seed in the UAC Red Division with a conference record of 4-2-4 and 16 UAC points. Since defeating the Lions 2-0 in October, the Bears have been on a three-game draw streak, tying both Abilene Christian and Little Rock 1-1 and Tarleton State 0-0. Senior goalkeeper Anna Kathryn Harrell earned UAC Goalkeeper of the Week honors this past week after becoming the first goalkeeper to shut out Tarleton State in conference play this season. The Bears have three players scoring more than five goals this season: Caroline Billings, Sakiko Manabe and Megan Moudy, while Jama Akpanudo has scored four and leads assists with seven.

WEEKLY WINNERS: The seven conference weekly winners tie the most in a single-season all-time, matching the seven in both 2014 and 2015 during the Gulf South Conference Division II days. This is the third time seven Lions have won a conference weekly award under head coach Chris Walker. Tyrrell is the fifth different Lion to win a UAC Weekly Award this season and the fifth to collect her first career weekly conference award, as well. She joins forward Anna Fugarino, defender Avery Smith, goalkeeper Emily Dorfman and Sobotka as first time career winners. Sobotka is the first Lion this season to win two conference weekly awards. Her second award is the first time a Lion has won two conference player of the week awards in the same season during Division I history. Only 2022's Izzi Gurney-Harper, 2022's Payton Yates and 2023's Adriana Wright won two or more conference weekly awards in the same season. Gurney-Harper was named ASUN Defensive Player of the Week while Yates and Wright were ASUN Goalkeeper of the Week.

MR. ALL-TIME: After the 3-0 win over West Georgia, Chris Walker owns 112 total wins under his belt for his 14-year head coaching career. Walker has now surpassed former head coach Graham Winkworth for the most all-time wins by a head coach in the 30-year history at North Alabama. Walker was the second coach to earn 100 wins as a head coach and now sits alone as the winningest head coach in program history.

NEXT GAME: The UAC Women's Soccer Championship continues with the semifinal game on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. If the Lions advance, they play the Red Division No. 1 seed Abilene Christian. The full bracket can be found here.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.