Arkansas edges Grand Canyon after opening SEC play with victory at Tennessee
The Arkansas women’s soccer team (5-2-1) wrapped up non-conference play with a wild 3-2 victory over Grand Canyon (6-3-1) on Sunday at Razorback Field.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas women’s soccer team (5-2-1) wrapped up non-conference play with a wild 3-2 victory over Grand Canyon (6-3-1) on Sunday at Razorback Field.
Two Hogs, forwards Bella Field and Zoe Shepherd, scored their first collegiate goals in front of 2,635 fans at Razorback Field, the third-largest crowd in program history.
Grand Canyon opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a goal against the run of play netted by the ‘Lopes leading scorer Gianna Gourley.
Arkansas tied the match and took the lead with two goals in the final two minutes of the half. Forward Anna Podojil netted the first goal off a free kick from Emilee Hauser. It was the 47th in her career, which ranks second among active DI players.
Shepherd scored the go-ahead goal with 15 seconds on the clock thanks to a cross from Podojil that was mishandled by ’Lopes goalkeeper Deaira Jackson.
The Hogs finished the first half with 16 shots to Grand Canyon’s four.
The second half featured 44 scoreless minutes before GCU’s Bekah Valdez tied the match up with 53 seconds to play, but Arkansas only needed 27 seconds to retake the lead.
Midfielder Makenzie Malham sent a ball in, then linked with forward Kiley Dulaney and midfielder Bea Franklin before finding the right foot of Field. Field fired near post and through the hands of Jackson and gave the Hogs their fifth win of the season.
Podojil tied her career high of six shots to lead the Hogs’ total of 25 for the match.
The win came on the heels of the Razorbacks winning their Southeastern Conference opener Friday night on the road against Tennessee by a score of 3-1. The Hogs (1-0-0 in SEC play) last opened SEC play with a road win in 2016.
Franklin’s first goal was scored in the 12th minute on Arkansas’ first corner kick of the match. The kick was taken by freshman defender Avery Wren and headed on target by Podojil. Tennessee goalkeeper Ally Zazzara poked the ball out to a wide-open Franklin in the sixyard box. Franklin’s right-footed shot sailed between two defenders to give Arkansas the early lead.
Tennessee equalized the match in the 30th minute off a corner kick of their own, but Franklin put the Hogs back in front 90 seconds later. Dulaney served the ball in from distance to connect with Franklin for one of her patented header goals.
The brace is the second of her career, with the first one coming in last year’s NCAA Tournament match against Ohio State. Eight of Franklin’s 10 goals as a Razorback have been scored with her head.
The Hogs did not sit back in the second half and found their third goal in the 72nd minute. Senior defender Emilee Hauser snuck the ball into the 18-yard box where Sophia Aragon raced past two Tennessee defenders and finished far post to put away the match for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde and the Hogs’ defense came up big in the second half and fended off 11 shots, two on target, to keep Tennessee off the board.
Franklin led the Hogs with four of the team’s 10 shots.
The Razorbacks will host No. 7 Alabama (6-0-4, 0-0-1 SEC) for the SEC home opener at 6 p.m. Thursday. The match will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
