Tag: Arkansas soccer

Podojil ties record as Arkansas smashes Kentucky to finish fourth in SEC

Arkansas clinched the No. 4 seed for the SEC Tournament with a 6-0 win over Kentucky.

Anna Podojil has been a staple on the Arkansas soccer attack for years. Now, she can claim she is, perhaps, the best to ever do it.

Podojil became tied atop the Razorbacks’ all-time leaderboard in goals during Thursday’s 6-0 win over Kentucky. She tied the record on Senior Night, no less, in the last regular-season game of the season.

Her goal was the 44th of her career and gave Arkansas a 4-0 lead heading into minute 13. The six-goal win was the program’s largest since 1999. Ava Tankersley potted two herself, the team’s second and sixth, to register her sixth and seventh of the season.

Arkansas finished the regular season 11-3-3 and 6-2-2 in SEC play. They earned the fourth seed in SEC Tournament, which begins Tuesday. The Hogs will play Vanderbilt, the No. 5 seed. Arkansas won the teams’ regular-season meeting in early October, 3-0.

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Remember worrying about Arkansas? Not anymore

Arkansas has won five straight games, all by shutout, and ranked No. 9 in the country.

For a while, early in the season, some fear existed. The magic may have been over.

Not so fast, my friends, as Lee Corso would say.

The Arkansas soccer team has ripped off five straight victories, all by shutout, and climbed to No. 9 in the country with just two weeks left in the regular season. The Razorbacks (10-2-1, 5-1) are second in the SEC West, trailing Alabama by a game. Incidentally, they travel to Tuscaloosa on Sunday for maybe the nation’s biggest showdown against the No. 4 Crimson Tide.

Anna Podojil is tied for fifth in the SEC in goals with six. Ava Tankersley is tied for fourth in points with 18. Grace Barbara’s eight shutouts are third in the league.

It all adds up to giving the Hogs another shot at a high seed for the NCAA Tournament come November.

In the meantime, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky and the SEC Tournament await last year’s regular-season and conference-tournament champions.

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Hogs have a new all-time leading scorer, beat Auburn

Colby Hale wondered if anyone will ever break Arkansas’ new record.

Nice night for a record.

Anna Podojil notched an assist in Arkansas’ 1-0 win on Thursday over Auburn to help the Razorbacks to their first SEC win of the year. In doing so, she became the Hogs’ all-time leading scorer.

“She’s still got a year and a half left,” coach Colby Hale said. “It may be a record no one ever breaks.”

Podojil passed her former teammate at the top. Parker Goins had the record with 108 points. She set it last year. But in the 55th minute, Podojil’s cross found Jessica De Filippo who potted home the game’s only goal.

Arkansas rolled, anyway. The Razorbacks outshot Auburn, 21-6. The win marked Arkansas’ ninth straight in the series and kept the team unbeaten at Razorback Field this year. The Hogs return to SEC play Sunday when they travel South Carolina.

Podojil earns SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors

Anna Podojil took over the Arkansas team lead for goals after a three-goal week for the Razorbacks.

Three goals in two games will do it, especially when one one of those games came against a Top-15 team in the country.

Arkansas senior forward Anna Podojil earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors, the league announced Monday, after her three-goal, one-assist outburst for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas had a 3-3 draw in Provo, Utah, against No. 13 Brigham Young on Thursday then zipped down to Phoenix on Sunday and beat Grand Canyon, 3-0. Podojil had the helper and one goal against the Cougars, then scored two of the Hogs’ three against GCU.

In doing so, Podojil took the team lead in goals with four on the season. She also has two assists, giving her 10 points, one behind team leader Ava Tankersley (2 goals, 7 assists).

Arkansas continues its stretch away from home when it opens SEC play on Friday at Mississippi State. The Hogs return to Fayetteville on Thursday, September 22 to host Auburn.

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Unbeaten no more: Arkansas hands Michigan State first loss

The Razorbacks are getting Top 25 votes and should pick up more next week after the win.

Bea Franklin’s rough-and-tumble style earned her four fouls Sunday when Arkansas played Michigan State.

That style also earned her a second goal of the season, the lone one to find the back of the net as the Razorbacks handed the Spartans their first loss of the season, 1-0, in Fayetteville.

Junior forward Ava Tankersley lined up for a free kick in the 77th minute after putting pressure on the MSU midfield and drawing a foul. Her boot found Franklin, who had to battle Spartans defenders, and the 5-foot-10 senior from Seattle popped home a header to give the Hogs the victory.

“We just knew that they had a strong keeper so somebody had to get in front of the keeper on any free kick or corner kick we had,” Franklin said. “That was my mission on that kick, and I just was able to get my head on it.”

Tankersley picked up an assist, her fifth of the season, a team high.

Arkansas has won four straight games after a season-opening loss to St. Louis. The Razorbacks picked up four votes for the Top 25 last week. They travel Thursday to Provo, Utah, to play sixth-ranked Brigham Young.

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Arkansas blasts Oklahoma in early-season road game

Oklahoma was left in the Razorbacks’ wake as Arkansas picked up its first win of the season.

Speed. Arkansas has it.

The Razorbacks picked up their first win of the soccer season Thursday in Norman, Oklahoma, beating the Sooners, 6-1.

It was a quality bounce-back for Arkansas, which lost its season opener last week at St. Louis. Still, the Hogs entered the game against Oklahoma third in RPI. It shouldn’t drop now.

Junior forward Ava Tankersley had three assists and freshman Ainsley Erzen had a goal and an assist. Erzen’s tally was the stuff of magnificence. Her speed – she was a track-and-field star in addition to soccer during high school in Iowa – was a problem for the Sooners backline.

Ellie Podojil, Jessica De Filippo, Makenzie Malham, McKenna Saul also had goals for the Razorbacks. Goalkeeper Grace Barbara had seven saves.

Arkansas next plays Sunday at home against Arkansas State.

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Razorbacks land at No. 8 in United Soccer Coaches Poll

Arkansas soccer is coming off its best season in school history.

Tuesday afternoon, the United Soccer Coaches Poll released their preseason rankings, with Arkansas earning No. 8 in the polls.

The Razorbacks are the highest among the four SEC teams in the polls. Tennessee falls in at No. 11, followed by South Carolina at 12. Ole Miss is the lowest ranked SEC team at No. 18.

Arkansas will travel to Provo, Utah September 8 to take the BYU, who landed at the No. 3 spot in the rankings, coming off their 16-5-2 record in 2021.

Last season, the Razorbacks had their most successful season in program history, winning a season-record 19 matches, their third straight SEC regular season title, and the program’s first NCAA Elite 8 appearance.

The first home game of the season is against Depaul on August 21.

Look: Arkansas Soccer receives SEC Championship rings

The rings that the three-time defending SEC champs received are spectacular.

If you win the SEC three straight times, you deserve a spectacular prize.

That is what the Arkansas Razorbacks soccer team got this week, as they received their rings for winning the SEC championship last season.

The Razorbacks finished the season with a 19-4-1 record, and an incredible 9-1 mark in SEC play. After dropping their first two games of the 2021 season to powers Duke and North Carolina on the road, Arkansas went on to win 14 straight games before dropping the regular-season finale to LSU, 4-2 in Baton Rouge.

The Razorbacks got revenge on the Tigers the following weekend at the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala., defeating the Tigers, 2-1.

In the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas won three straight home games to set up a date in the Elite 8 at Rutgers. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, however, the Razorbacks lost to the Scarlet Knights in penalty kicks, 4-2, ending their season.

The Razorbacks look to begin the season next month. The official schedule has yet to be released.

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Rutgers ends Arkansas’ soccer season in Elite Eight after penalties

Arkansas’ best-ever soccer season was ended by Rutgers in a penalty shootout in the Elite Eight.

Riley Tiernan made Rutgers’ final penalty shot after two periods of extra time and the Scarlet Knights beat Arkansas, 2-2 (4-2 on penalties) to go to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Final Four.

The Razorbacks’ season ended as its most successful in school history. Arkansas had never made the Elite Eight before Friday and finished the season with a record of  19-5, including a 9-1 mark in SEC play.

Anna Podojil missed the first attempt for Arkansas and Becci Fluchel followed with a make for Rutgers. Arkansas pulled one back on turn two with Kaelee Van Gundy scoring, but Amirah Ali matched her. On turn three, Haley VanFossen missed off the post for the Razorbacks, but Megan McClelland, Rutgers’ goalie, missed, as well. On turn four, Parker Goins scored, but Rutgers needed just one more to clinch. Tiernan was the hero.

The teams went to a penalty shootout after neither team could find the back of the net at the conclusion of two 10-minute frames of extra time.

Riley Tiernan opened the scoring just two minutes into the game as the Scarlet Knights advanced up the field quickly on a counter-attack after Parker Goins hit the post 28 seconds in and Kiley Dulaney’s shot was saved by Megan McClelland.

The Razorbacks rallied quickly. Anna Podojil scored her 16th goal of the season in the eighth minute and notched her third of the year in the 15th.

Rutgers answered with two minutes left in the first half when Amirah Ali tied things in the 44th.

The last best chance for Arkansas in regulation came in the 86th when Goins’ low shot went down the middle and McClelland came up with it.

Hello, Sweet 16: Arkansas soccer books spot after shutout of Virginia Tech

Arkansas soccer booked its spot in the Sweet 16 with a 3-0 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night.

A dominant performance Friday night in front of the homes easily lifted Arkansas over Virginia Tech, 3-0, in the Round of 32 in the NCAA women’s soccer tournament.

The Razorbacks, the No. 2 seed in their region, host Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The game can be seen on SEC Network+.

Anna Podojil potted her 15th goal of the season just five minutes in and the Hogs never looked back as Virginia Tech managed just one shot in the opening half. Reagan Swindall and Parker Goins added second-half goals to push the margin.

The Sweet 16 appearance is the third in school history. Arkansas made it to the round last year, but fell to eventual national champion Santa Clara.