The No. 11 Arkansas soccer team extended its unbeaten streak at Razorback Field to 27 games Thursday night, walloping No. 9 Alabama, 5-0, in front of a raucous crowd of 3,660.
The Crimson Tide (6-1-4, 0-1-1) was the highest-ranked team to play in Fayetteville since the Hogs faced No. 5 Texas A&M in 2020.
The Razorbacks (6-2-1, 2-0 SEC) wasted little time in asserting their dominance in the SEC home-opener, scoring three goals in the match’s first 15 minutes.
All-American graduate forward Anna Podojil led the charge once again, as she recorded assists on the first two goals, before scoring the third one herself. It was her program-record 48th career goal, which ranks second among active DI players.
Graduated mid-fielder Bea Franklin scored the opening goal, just three minutes in, as she took a cross pass from Podojil and tipped the ball into the net. Franklin is the team’s second-leading scorer this season with five goals.
Just four minutes later, Podojil found freshman midfielder Avery Wren, who drilled the ball from the top of the 18-yard box into the far post, for her first collegiate goal.
Podojil finally put herself in the scoring column, taking a low cross pass from fellow graduate forward Morgan White, then beating the Alabama defenders for a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Razorbacks have scored 32 total goals this season, with 14 different goal scorers.
“You’ve got to stop Anna, Ava (Tankersley) and Morgan,” Razorbacks Head Coach Colby Hale said. “And after that you still have 11, 12, 13 kids that can score.”
Arkansas’ primary goalkeeper, junior Sierra Cota-Yarde, was excused from Thursday’s match to play for the Portuguese national team. Freshman goalkeeper Phoebe Carver got her first start in goal for the Razorbacks and made the most of her opportunity, tallying five saves against the Crimson Tide.
“She did not look like a freshman,” Hale said. “It’s a big game for it to be her first game. I thought she was fantastic.”
White added a pair of goals to put the game away in the second half, showing off her speed to outrace the last Tide defender, then slipping the ball past Bama goal keeper Coralie Lallier, to make it 4-0 in the 52nd minute. She followed that with the game’s final goal in the 68th minute, cutting in from the far-left side and lobbing the ball just inside the far post.
Arkansas outshot Alabama, 23-15, and scored on half of its shots on target in the first half. The five-goal loss was Alabama’s largest margin of defeat since a 6-0 loss at Florida in 2016.
Hale credited the Razorback faithful for providing a true home-field advantage.
“This crowd is unbelievable,” he said. “They’re loud. They’re obnoxious. I thought they were a huge factor tonight.”
It was the Razorbacks’ first shutout since blanking Oregon, 4-0, on Aug. 24. Their five goals were the second-most this year, behind only a 6-0 victory over Arkansas State in the season-opener.
Arkansas will look to extend its winning streak to four games when they travel to College Station to face Texas A&M (5-3-2, 1-0-1) Sunday at 6 p.m. It will be aired on the SEC+ network.