Category: Arkansas Soccer

Arkansas’ season is finished after Razorbacks stunned by Pittsburgh in NCAA Tournament

Arkansas hadn’t lost at Razorback Field all season. Until Friday.

The Arkansas soccer season is finished.

The regular-season SEC title-holders, something common with the Hogs for the last several years, were stunned at Razorback Field on Friday night, 4-3, by Pittsburgh in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

Pitt, the No. 7 seed in the region, went ahead in the 89th minute when Ellie Coffield broke a 3-all tie with her goal into the top left corner of the Arkansas net. All Pittsburgh had to do from there was hold on for another two-ish minutes.

The late-half stuff was Arkansas’ buggaboo.

The Hogs had a 2-1 lead in the waning minutes of the first half before Keera Melenhorst tied the game in the 43rd minute.

Bea Franklin broke the tie in the Razorbacks advantage in the 69th, but the Panthers quickly tied it again when Coffield scored her first of the game in the 77th.

Arkansas had made the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight the last two seasons. The Razorbacks finished the year 15-5-2 and not lost in Fayetteville all season.

Arkansas soccer preparing for Pittsburgh in second round

Arkansas welcomes Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Memphis to Razorback Field for the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend.

Arkansas will not rematch Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after all.

Pittsburgh disposed of the Buckeyes on Saturday, 6-0, and will visit Razorback Field on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The winner of the Notre Dame-Memphis match, which will also take place on Arkansas’ pitch, will face the Pittsburgh-Arkansas winner in the round of 16 on Sunday at 6 p.m.

Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

Arkansas is still likely going to be without All-American Anna Podojil, who didn’t play against Grambling this past Friday and her status remains uncertain.

Freshman forward Bella Field stepped up when called upon against Grambling, tallying a hat trick.

The Razorbacks are 10-0 in NCAA Tournament matches at Razorback Field, and have won 32 matches in a row on their home confines.

Arkansas blows out Grambling in NCAA Tourney opener on Friday

Arkansas romped past Grambling in the second half in the NCAA Tournament opener on Friday night at Razorback Field.

While the Arkansas basketball team was battling Gardner-Webb across the street, the soccer team was tangling with Grambling in the NCAA Tournament opener.

It was a stalemate in the first half, but a rout in the second 45 minutes as the Razorbacks cruised to a 5-0 victory and a spot in the next round.

Bella Field earned herself a hat trick, scoring three times in the second half, one off an assist from Morgan White and the other two from Ava Tankersley.

Tankersley got into the act herself just seconds after Field scored her first goal, as both of them tallied goals in the 51st minute.

Sophia Aragon put the finishing touches on the contest with a goal in the 83rd minute to finalize.

Arkansas will await the winner of Pittsburgh and Ohio State, who play on Saturday.

Arkansas soccer earns No. 2 seed in NCAA Tourney; will play Grambling

Arkansas soccer is a 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and will host Grambling in its first round matchup.

The Arkansas soccer team will be a 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, it was announced on Monday.

Coming off a SEC Tournament championship game loss to Georgia, the Razorbacks will host Grambling in the first round on Friday evening.

By earning the 2 seed, it matched the program’s highest seed earned in its history.

Arkansas (14-4-2), which won the regular season SEC title, will play the winner of Pittsburgh and Ohio State.

Ohio State, coincidentally, was the team Arkansas defeated in the second round a year ago.

The Razorbacks are in the Florida State bracket, the team that eliminated them in the Elite Eight a year ago, 1-0.

It remains to be seen the status of All-American Anna Podojil, who was injured in the SEC Tournament final.

Tickets for the Grambling game are available for $8 for adults and $3 for youth 17 and under.

No. 10 Hogs suffer agonizing 1-0 loss in SEC Tournament final

The Razorbacks soccer team suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Georgia in the SEC Tourney championship game.

The No. 10 Arkansas soccer team (14-4-2) suffered the ultimate heart-breaker in the championship game of the SEC Tournament on Sunday in Pensacola. The Hogs fell to Georgia 1-0, with the lone goal coming off an own-goal that was deflected in off a Razorback player.

The goal was actually scored early in the game, less than seven minutes in, when Georgia’s Mallie McKenzie dribbled down the right flank and sent the ball in to teammate Hannah White at the near post. Unfortunately, the ball then went in the goal off the foot of Arkansas midfielder Makenzie Malham, who was pressuring White down the field.

The Razorbacks did everything they could to get the goal back and even the score, outshooting the Bulldogs 18-7 and forcing Georgia goalkeeper Jordan Brown to make seven saves. Graduate midfielder Bea Franklin led the Hogs with six shots on the day.

Freshman Phoebe Carver had another stellar game in goal for the Razorbacks, recording three saves.

Arkansas nearly tied it with 1:30 remaining in the match, as freshman midfielder Kennedy Ball sent a cross pass to the back post. It connected with freshman forward Bella Field, whose header sailed just over the crossbar.

A trio of Razorbacks – Malham, Franklin and forward Ava Tankersley – were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Hogs now await their NCAA Tournament draw, which will be revealed on Monday at 3 p.m. The selection show will be streamed live on the NCAA.com website.

Arkansas shuts out MSU, moves on to SEC Tournament Championship

The Razorbacks have never won the SEC Tournament title despite going to the title game six of the last seven years.

Arkansas coach Colby Hale may not have been too concerned with his team making it to the SEC Tournament championship.

But now that the Razorbacks are heading there, you can bet he’s going to do everything he can to help them win.

Arkansas, the regular-season conference champs, advanced to the postseason tournament title game with a 2-0 win over No. 18 Mississippi State on Thursday. The two teams had actually met less than a week before in the regular-season finale, too, another Arkansas win.

Ava Tankersley’s seventh goal of the season gave Arkansas a 1-0 lead just 12 minutes into the game. Phoebe Carver had to make just one save in the first half, which allowed Morgan White’s second-half goal to provide the Razorbacks with a 2-0 lead.

Hale had said before the tournament started that he wasn’t terribly concerned with how his team played in the tournament because he was more focused on the NCAA Tournament. An Arkansas win of the SEC title, though, would be the school’s first in history after winning four of the last five during the regular season.

The Razorbacks will play Georgia, a team Arkansas beat earlier in the season, Saturday at 1 p.m. for the crown.

Arkansas blows out Auburn, advances to SEC Tournament semifinals

Auburn was the only team to beat the Razorbacks in league play during the regular season.

Arkansas soccer will have no one-and-done this year at the SEC Tournament.

The Razorbacks, the top seed and regular-season champion, had no problem defeating No. 8-seed Auburn on Tuesday in the quarterfinals, 4-0. The win makes up for Arkansas’ loss to the Tigers during the regular season, the only loss of the Hogs’ SEC regular season.

Arkansas next plays No. 4-seed Mississippi State in the tournament semifinals on Thursday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on SEC Network. No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 Georgia are on the other side of the bracket.

Morgan White and Bea Franklin each popped goals in the first half, in the 28th and 34th minute respectively, while Anna Podojil and Kate Carter scored in the second half in the rout. Arkansas outshot Auburn, 22-7, and 10-2 on-goal.

The Razorbacks have never won the SEC Tournament title, despite winning four of the last five regular-season crowns.

Colby Hale named SEC Coach of the Year for Arkansas soccer

Ava Tankersley was named SEC Forward of the Year and Bea Franklin SEC Midfielder of the Year, too.

Colby Hale has built a dynasty.

Arkansas soccer will undoubtedly qualify for its eighth straight NCAA Tournament when the field is announced in a week and the Razorbacks have gone to the Elite Eight two straight seasons.

But Hale, in his 12th year as coach, may have his best team yet and he was rewarded for it Saturday as he was named SEC Coach of the Year.

Hale led the Razorbacks to a 12-3-2 record overall and a 8-1-1 mark in SEC play. Arkansas will enter the SEC Tournament, which the Hogs start Tuesday against either Tennessee or Auburn, as the 10th-ranked team in the nation.

Five of Hale’s players joined him earning league honors, too. Ava Tankersley was named SEC Forward of the Year and Bea Franklin was named SEC Midfielder of the Year. Forward Anna Podojil and defender Ellie Podojil were named second-team All-SEC and Avery Wren was named Freshmen All-SEC.

Tankersley’s five goals scored in league play ranked second in the SEC. Franklin led the Hogs with seven goals and 21 points.

Arkansas scores late goal, wins outright regular season SEC title

The Arkansas soccer team defeated Mississippi State, 1-0 to claim the outright SEC regular season championship.

Graduate midfielder Bea Franklin scored the lone goal with less than five minutes to play Thursday night, helping the Arkansas soccer team defeat Mississippi State, 1-0, to secure the outright SEC regular season championship.

Franklin took the assist from senior Emilee Hauser and booted the right-footed kick into the bottom left of the goal past Bulldog goalkeeper Maddy Anderson with 4:51 remaining.

Playing in front of 2,206 on Senior Night at Razorback Field, Arkansas (12-3-2, 8-1-1 SEC) completed a perfect 9-0 home slate this season and will now be the top seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament on Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla.

The Razorbacks outshot the Bulldogs 17-8, and held a 7-6 advantage in corner kicks. Freshman Phoebe Carver had another outstanding performance in goal for Arkansas, racking up five saves.

Arkansas will play the winner of the Auburn-Tennessee game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Pensacola’s Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex. It will be aired on the SEC Network.

 

 

No. 9 Arkansas soccer program claims fourth SEC title in five years

The Arkansas soccer team earned at least a share of the SEC crown with a win against Ole Miss on Sunday.

The 9th-ranked Arkansas soccer team did it again on Sunday, crushing Ole Miss 5-1, to secure it fourth SEC regular-season title in five years.

Razorback Field was filled with 3,035 rowdy fans, the fourth largest crowd in program history and the fourth top 10 crowd of the season.

The Razorbacks (11-3-2, 7-1-1 SEC) have 22 points in the standing, putting them three points ahead of  South Carolina (11-1-5, 5-0-4) with one game remaining. A win on Thursday against Mississippi State would secure the program’s third outright league title.

Junior Sophia Aragon got the scoring started in the ninth minute of the match started the scoring almost nine minutes into the match, getting a pass across the box from forward Morgan White, and finished it with a shot between the legs of the Ole Miss goalkeeper.

The Hogs added two more goals in two minutes, as freshman Bella Field came in off the bench to score in 25th minute, followed by a goal by senior Ava Tankersley in the 27th minute, taking the lead to 3-0 before halftime. Tankersley has now registered a point in six straight matches.

Graduate Anna Podojil, the program’s all-time leading scorer, kept things rolling with a goal in the 56th minute, the 49th of her career. Midfielder Bea Franklin earned her second assist of the match.

Freshman Kennedy Ball scored her second goal of the season, capping the Arkansas’ scoring with a goal in the 77th minute, getting the assist from fellow freshman Sabrina Jones.

Freshman goalkeeper Phoebe Carver started her eighth game of the season and played the entire 90 minutes. Although she gave up her third goal of the season in the 79th minute, she also tallied two saves.

The Razorbacks’ 27 shots were the most in an SEC game this season, as Arkansas held Ole Miss to just six shots, the seventh time Arkansas has held an opponent to a single-digit shot total this season.

The Hogs will close out the regular season against the Bulldogs (9-3-4, 4-2-2 SEC) Thursday at 6:30 p.m.